(Disclaimer although I have a strong opinion about this particular subject I'm in no way saying do or do not donate to any particular charity. I am just stating MY opinion which was formed by MY experience which can change. Tomorrow I may not feel the same way.)
This past weekend while I was out shopping for mothers day I was aproached by two charities. One when I checked out at Walmart for Primary Children's Hospital and one at McDonald's for McDonald's House charities. I actually donated to one but refused to donate to the other. Which one did I refuse to donate to? Primary Children's and here is why.
In 2012 my daughter got sick with RSV for the second time in her short life. We took her to Urgent care who instructed us to imediately take her to Primary Children's. She stayed there 4 days and was visited by at least 4 doctors who charged there own fees on top of Primary Children's fees to take care of her. They did nothing to help her treatment plan and still added thousands of dollars to our bill. But I'm not actually upset about that. What upsets me the most is after my insurance pays 80% and my final bill came instead of me trying to apply for financial assistance I went ahead and started to pay it and with it comes interest. Where the heck does the interest go?? Does it go into an account to help some underprivileged family who has a brand new van better house but fell on hard times?? I know I could of applied for their charity and got assistance but felt I could afford my bills now because I have decided to pay I'm not only paying the 20 % I owe but also paying extra interest because I decided to pay my bills. They already got 80 % which would of easily more than covered everything they want more and even a little bit more, to go????where???? They don't pay state taxes so why do they need to collect interest on the last 20 percent I owe them?
Ronald McDonald house charities is one of the few as of right now that I trust. As a matter of fact I would rather donate to Ronald McDonald house than the food bank or even my church fast offerings. They do at least one main thing that I know of provide a comfortable stay near a a hospital so that a parent or family member doesn't have to be far away from the patient . It's an even playing for lower and middle class income families I see it completely different than hospital charities which you have to show them every little detail of your financial life then they will help you. I've also heard a rumor from a former collection employee who told me that most of the time if you had a Hispanic name they would just automatically send it to be paid out of the charity funds.
I always say this "If it feels right donate, if it doesn't, don't." I have donated to Primary Children's Hospital before this incident. I'm sorry but as of right now it does not feel right to donate to them.
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