I have been tagged again.

Cormac has asked me to nominate 5 charities of my choice, which is a hell of a lot better than asking for “a list of five things I wouldn’t do in front of Herself”, or whatever.

This Charity Link Meme was started by SEORefuge on May 16th.

The rules are simple, copy the list of charities and links (grab it from whomever tags you) and add your 5 favourite charities or non-profit organizations to the end (link to their sites with anchor text of the causes they champion). Of course finish things off by tagging 5 other webmasters/bloggers and then publishing the post or the webpage.

-oOo-

The big problem is that he nominated my charity of choice as his number one, which leaves me in a quandary. So what I will do is list my charities and say why I think they are deserving, even if they are already on the list below.

My first choice has to be the Jack and Jill Children’s Foundation. They do great work for that forgotten niche in society – the parents of severely handicapped children. If you have a handicapped child, it is frequently a 24 hour job looking after him or her, and that is a very isolating experience. You get no respite, and damn little help from the government [the governments attitude is that there is no point in providing aid for a child under two, as it will probably die anyway. That’s pushing bureaucracy a bit far].

When our Sean [my grandson] was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy they were a lifeline for our K8. They provided invaluable help and advice, but most of all, they provided respite care, so that K8 and TAT could have a day or a night off from time to time.

I have persuaded Ron to host their web site and to look after it, as their previous hoster was actually charging them for hosting [and for their domain name, which should have been free because they are a charity]. Ron didn’t take much persuading.

Another, which is already on the list is the Irish Cancer Society. Again I had the misfortune to have close experience with their work, as my father died of cancer over thirty years ago.

Yet another, which is already there is the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind. This is another charity I would love to work for, but I don’t have the patience for training dogs. If I can’t get our Sandy to behave, then what chance would I have training these marvellous dogs that are a lifeline for so many.

One charity I think gets a hard time is the RNLI. The lifeboats save so many lives a year, yet it is all done on a voluntary basis. All the crews literally put their lives on the line to save others. I think the ‘Royal’ in the title tends to put people off in this country, but the RNLI make no distinction as to nationality.

Another one I admire is the Barretstown Castle [Hole in the Wall] Camp. This is the one set up by Paul Newman. This provides a break for children with cancer, and if anyone deserves a break, then they do.

So that’s my five. I’m afraid I have only actually added two, but the others are so important to me [especially Jack and Jill] that I had to give them some emphasis.

Here is the full list so far….

• Bubblegum Club – Children In Crisis
• Autism NI – Autism Northern Ireland
• Adoption Ireland – Irish Adoption Charity
• Ireland Funds – Peace and Reconciliation In Ireland
• Dublin Simon Community – Combating Homelessness in Dublin
• The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity – Polish Charity
• CPR For Schools Across Poland – CPR Training
• Program of Insulin Pumps in Diabetic Children Therapy – Insulin Pumps For Children
• Non-invasive Neonatal Breathing Support – Infant Flow
• Program of Universal Neonatal Hearing Screenings – Neonatal Hearing
• American Red Cross – disaster relief
• Raleigh Rescue Mission – homeless raleigh
• SOS Children’s Villages – sponsor a child
• Samaritan’s Purse – emergency relief programs
• St. Jude Children’s Hospital – cancer research
• Medecins Sans Frontieres / Doctors Without Borders – Humanitarian Relief
• American Red Cross – Emergency Preparedness
• AMREF – African Medical & Research Foundation – African Health Development
• DOROT – Programs for Elderly
• Feed the Children – Protect Children
• Service International – Disaster Relief
• Pujols Family Foundation – Children with Down Syndrome
• National Alliance to End Homelessness – Homelessness
• The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research – Parkinson’s Research
• Ronald McDonald Care Mobile Program – Child Healthcare
• Aids Research Alliance – Aids Research
• Wildlife Conservation Society – Wildlife Protection
• Cancer Research Institute – Cancer Research
• Second Harvest – End Hunger
• AARP Foundation – Helping Senior Citizens
• Jack & Jill Childern’s Foundation – Jack & Jill Childern’s Foundation
• Irish Guide Dogs Association – Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind
• Simon Community Cork – Sign Up for Simon
• Trócaire – Irish Charity & Development Agency
• Cancer.ie – Irish Cancer Society
• Royal National Lifeboat Institution – RNLI
• Barretstown Castle –Barretstown Castle [Hole in the Wall] Camp
• Alternative Cancer Care –Alternative Cancer Treatment

Now I have to find five more people to annoy.

So here goes –

• Michele Neylon, because he is loaded and hates these tags.
• Richard in Red Cardinal, because I haven’t heard from him in a while.
• Ian, because if anyone knows about charity, then he does.
• IrishFlirtySomething, to take her mind off men for five minutes
• And finally, to prove that there is a glimmer of humanity underneath that crusty exterior [and I’m taking my life in my hands here] – Twenty Major. Come on Twenty. I know you have a rule about these things but it’s for charity!!

And if anyone wants it, here is the latest list – updatedcharitylinks.txt