I am all for charities. Not making them sit through sermons on how this is "God's" work is the real charity. Xtians always seem to use their charity as a tool to push the "Word" of there fictional god.

I see it is generally assumed if you are not a church person, you can't see giving to others. To assist others with life. What I see is different. Some of the most giving did it because it was just the right thing to do. The human condition is that life is not always fair. Not because some diety is deciding who deserves more or less than others. That some get more and others get less. We help our neighbor because they are our neighbor. It is the right thing to do. Society and life in general is better because we do the right thing. Doing to win points for an after life doesn't help our lives here and now. I give whatever I can to help everywhere. I also tip better than the average because the person deserves that tip. So it makes life better in general.

It's a privilege. I qualify as low income, but still jump at the opportunity to share with those less fortunate than myself. It's a special kind of high.

I help animals

If you would hope for a stranger to help you in a moment of need, be that stranger for someone else. If you execute a kind act, with kind intent, then kindness exists... only then, can you be sure.

I avoid the holidays because thats when all the folks who want to get on TV do their giving and make a big fuss over it but when those holidays are over there are still homeless that need items like warm socks, soap, gloves, hats etc/ I usually can get alot of that stuff on sale in the spring and hang onto until winter and then pass things out. I make my own soap and hand some of that out as well in gallon zip locks, usually they have a bar of soap, toothpaste and toothbrush, a $1.00 deordorant, a comb, that sort of thing and if I can get them cheap some AA batteries, it is cold weather socks/gloves/hat. Other times I have food like a sandwich or veges from my garden. Im not all that well to do myself but I do help with what little I can.

I give around 5% of my income to a few charities but more importantly I try to tackle the issues that I beleive sre the cause of people needing charities in the first place

I help whenever I can. The religious do not have a monopoly on helping the less advantagious. When I was homeless, I didn't stop a philathropic person from giving and ask them their religion, it wasn't important. It was their love of humanity that compells them to give, not the imaginary sky-friend.

I rejected religion because I was involved in a charity group (Children Int'l.) that I saw as extremely self-serving to the point of actually making the poverty worse (family planning was actually discouraged yet the number of reciprients was skyrocketing). Many, many charities don't take a long term view and do make problems worse and I now question each and every charity. Basically, I won't give to any charity that makes people dependant on the charity giver (the usual adage about giving a fish and teaching to fish does apply). The only charities I give to are those that support systems in which all life forms (including humans) live. Groups as FFRF, Nature Conservancy, EngenderHealth/Planned Parenthood, Gun Control groups and many local ones (money and time) to name a few. I strongly believe that if one gives to something and it makes them feel good that becomes a personal reward and as such, is closed to any critical thinking processes. It has to do good not feel good.

As a group we serve lunch once a month at our local homeless shelter. We also help out at the women's center. We also gather clothes for the homeless. And we clean up a two mile section of a road. Our motto is doing good without god!

I think assisting the poor is not determined by religion or non-religion. You either have a giving heart or you don't.
Usually though throwing money at a problem has never solved it. If you build housing or donate food to charity you are still not addressing the root cause of poverty.

for me it was never about any religion, but i grew up poor, so i know how hard it can be. but i do have some general guide lines i try 2 follow. i try not 2 give money unless i know a bit more about their personal situation, instead, i pack meals, cloths, toiletries, blankets, and the occasional sweet treat, or a good book, or some cheap art suplies. i do this around my small town and also make a trip once a year in2 seattle when it starts 2 get colder. i like 2 sit down and just chat with them, i know it doesnt seem like much, and not all of them want 2, but i remember being poor and watching all the other people walk by and thinking they were so much better than me that we were like 2 different species, i imagined that they must speak some other language, we were so different. it was really nice when one of them treated you like an equal. 3. i like 2 make sure that they have help for their companions, and while i cannot afford 2 pay the vet bills, i have become fairly close with several vets, and can usually manage 2 get them some kind of help. sometimes thats all they have left. for a few years in my small town, before the places were sold, i had worked it out with a few businesses that our homeless folks could go around and gather a bag of garbage, turn it in, and in return they were allowed, as long as they were respectful, 2 use the restroom 2 clean up, shave, brush their teeth, that kind of thing, one store had a fire place and they could sit by it and warm themselves. most other businesses run them off now, so it was a nice compromise.

Charity, poverty, ownership and wealth are artificial concepts. Neanderthals helped each other out. We knew this millenia ago.That is a normal hominid response. Creating a class distinction that attributes shame to need isn't.

I have been slacking off, but my last charitable contribution was due to a suggestion that my daughter made. I bought three pairs of shoes from the Wal-Mart clearance rack and a large package of heavy socks and took them to a nearby homeless shelter.

All for it. You can't have Capitalism and not have poor people.

I contribute monthly to Doctors Without Borders and Foundtion Beyond Belief.

Charity begins at home if you can spare any loose change and makes a differance in some else life why not