Originally Posted by virgwid
She was having a yearly luncheon for all the workers, volunteers, donors etc. Of course we had to cook for our own luncheon. Our group cooked a lot to help out. Guess what was being given away to everyone as a thank you for the help/donations? People were winning them as prizes, getting 2 to 3 of them at a time to take home. Thank goodness I wasn't there. They probably would have had to call the cops on me for threatening her life! Needless to say we never had another thing to do with that shelter.
I guess I think a bit differently. I've not had time to read all the other comments (just go to page 3 of 8 before replying) but I differ.
If you made the afghans for the ladies and their children, then yes, you can be angry, but if you made them for the charity itself, then your afghans are going towards their purpose. How much of your Red Cross donations do you think actually make it to the PEOPLE that Red Cross helps and how much to actually aid Red Cross in getting there, keeping their website up, paying their electric bill,etc. In a way, your afghans were saving the charity money by providing door prizes so that they didn't have to spend money in order to buy door prizes.
So, while they didn't go to the women, they did go to help the charity. If that upsets you, then by all means don't support them again.
However, some people don't mind such a thing. I wouldn't, if the charity was saying thank you to all the people who helped, then, they were probably very grateful for their afghans. It is very possible that they will actually be valued more than the ladies who get it for free. These ladies in essence, received them as a thank you gift. I think it is sweet and I don't think the charity should be shut down because of such a thing.
When you donate something, you are donating it to the charity (usually). How it uses its donations is up to it.
If someone donates fabric to you in order to make charity quilts but you make a couple to sell out of the fabric, then is it wrong? What if you need that money to buy batting and thread? I think if that is the purpose, then it is fine. Assuming money is tight, how else are you going to get the batting? I can't imagine anyone caring who donates fabric. They want the "cause" furthered" and if you deem it that way, then by all means, "go for it".
At least that's what I think.
If you don't trust the owners/organizers of the charity to use the donations/money/stuff that you give, choose a different charity.