Donation question

[Lilsheep88]

I was wondering… a couple of weeks ago I donated a bag of old clothes as part of relief goods going to a country that was hard hit by a tsunami as a thanksgiving for an answered prayer.

An acquaitance offered to send the goods on my behalf, because he was doing some sort of “community drive.”

My problem is, I impulsively gave my donations to him… and its been a few weeks and he still has not sent the goods. Now I am even beggining to doubt his intentions (ie: if he will or he wont take the clothes for himself). I took his word for it because he told me I could trust him

If the goods dont make it there asap, or dont make it there at all… Would it be my fault? Has my geneoristy been jeopardized / put in vain?

Should I have been more responsible in ensuring that the goods would have recieved its destination through a more reliable means?

This also raises the question of donating to scam charities… who is at fault? The charity or the donater?

 

[cjmclark]

You acted in good faith. It is the intent of charity that is most important here. It is the responsibility of the person with whom you entrusted the gift to see that it reaches its intended destination. The only way in which you could be responsible is if you knew the person was untrustworthy from the outset, which doesn’t seem to be the case.

A gentle reminder, along the lines of “How’s the clothing drive going?” can’t hurt. If this has already been tried, you can go for the more direct option of asking your acquaintance when the clothes will be sent, and ask for them back so you can send them by other means if their reply is unsatisfactory.

 

[MS_SURVEYOR]

You acted in good faith. It is the intent of charity that is most important here. It is the responsibility of the person with whom you entrusted the gift to see that it reaches its intended destination. The only way in which you could be responsible is if you knew the person was untrustworthy from the outset, which doesn’t seem to be the case.

A gentle reminder, along the lines of “How’s the clothing drive going?” can’t hurt. If this has already been tried, you can go for the more direct option of asking your acquaintance when the clothes will be sent, and ask for them back so you can send them by other means if their reply is unsatisfactory.

Yes.

 

[chaunceygardner]

I agree with the other posters (your intent was good and you did make the donation), and would suggest that you ask your “friend” about your donation. If it appears that your clothing is not going anywhere soon, ask for the items back and take them to St. Vincent DePaul, a parish clothing drive, or to some other organization that will put them to use.