Poker always gets a bad wrap from the media and politicians and I thought it would be nice if we could show the world (especially in the US) that Poker is not the shady underground "game of chance" that many believe it to be and that as a community we poker players are decent.

So, I'm asking the poker community to donate some of their poker winnings to charity or a family in need and then report back to this thread with what you've done (i'm sure many of you already donate to charity). Bonus if you include pics or a quick story/blurb. As the donations grow I will update the goals thermometer to reflect the current total.





It doesn't matter if it is $10 or $1k, I thought it would be nice to encapsulate the good things we poker players do.

If I were to guess, I would say that poker players as a community donate MILLIONS to charity every year and I know there are other 2+2ers doing charitable things...

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/11...hread-1132008/

This thread by no means is trying to replace others, but rather, I'd like to encapsulate all the good we poker players do. So donations for that thread and other threads can count for this one as well

Lastly, it goes without saying to feel free to send this out as a link to fellow poker players. I'd love to grow this from $10k to $100k to $1M . We'll see how it goes. Baby Steps...

I was just inspired to ship $100 to wikipedia. Good luck

Hey great idea dgiharris I'm in.

Wikipedia is the nuts, nice choice captZEEbo.

So, I'm in the process of finding my first family to help.

For the past few years around this time I search on Craigslist under "Community" subsection "General" and scan the ads.

Around this time there will be a desperate plea from someone who is overwhelmed or would like a few toys for their kids, etc. I contact said person by phone, talk to them and if everything feels legit I ship them a Walmart gift card or Money via the mail.

It feels good to personally help a stranger who needs help.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with giving directly to a charity, but I find that I get the most satisfaction from reading the heart break stories on Craigslist and helping. Think about it, you've got to be pretty desperate to post a plea on Craigslist knowing that most of the time it will go unanswered or people will think you are scamming them.

I also know a lot of people are "afraid" of being scammed. I say don't be. If you are a good judge of people and situations then when you "talk" to these people and listen to their voices you will have no doubt in your ability to distinguish between people who are scamming and people who legitimately need help.

Anyways, I started looking on Craigslist today and should have my first family in the next couple of days.

do animal shelters count?

Absolutely

This is a great idea!

5 stars, obv.

I'll post some results soon.

This is wonderful OP. I was redirected here by someone else when I posted this thread: http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/10...lidays-1275516

Not to derail yours but basically I wanted to do some actual labor help around christmas time in the LV area... do you think there would be an interest whether helping foster children, or serving homeless at shelter, or handing out food, etc...

I already have my set charities I donate to yearly what I can, but craigslist looking for someone desperate is a great idea!

So, I've been cruising the Craigslist ads looking for families asking for help and will be sending out some money and gift cards this week.



I've decided to donate $200 in $50 Walmart gift cards, and I'll probably ship the Toys for Tots 2+2ers a hundo tomorrow.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/96...hread-1274078/

If I include the Toys for tots money and the few PMs i've gotten from 2+2ers then "we" are at around $2k.

But I'd like this thread to start including more stories of what you guys are going to do for charity, volunteer work, or simply shipping someone who is less fortunate some money or even a $25 gift card.

Doing the Craigslist ad thing feels really good. You have to understand how truly desperate someone must be to post an online ad on Craigslist asking for help from total strangers. When you contact them by email and they give you their number and you talk to them on the phone you can hear the relief in their voice that they are getting help. And when you do talk to them, you will have absolutely no fear that you are being scammed. Their stories will make sense and they will be incredibly open and honest with information or even meeting you if that is what you desire.

In any event, here is where we are at now with two weeks to go.



There's no time like the present. Dig deep and give and then come back here and report back

I often hear an older gentleman playing a wooden flute outside of my building. Among all the angry horn-honking, his music is quite peaceful.

In the picture, you'll see about 70 yuan (Chinese currency), which is only about $11.50. But 70 yuan is a lot of money in China. You could easily take a girl out for a nice meal for 70 yuan. A homeless man could surely eat for a week.

A bowl of rice costs 1 yuan, as does a bottle of water. I would imagine a homeless man can get a 'decent' meal for about 4 or 5 yuan.

Anyways, I had been collecting my spare change (of course stacking chips; I miss poker more than any of you can imagine), and intended on giving it to someone in need. This guy is talented, and will probably put the money to good use.

He said 'xie xie' (thank you), which normal beggars don't do. It actually caught me off guard, and made me feel really good

I know it wasn't much by U.S. standards, but I think it will mean a lot to this guy.

that's very nice of you, 70 yuan will definitely buy him something nice.

Great thread idea DGI.

When I learned about this thread, I immediately thought of sending a couple friends in SoCal some dough to use as they please. It's been about 8 months since I've done anything for them...apparently I'm way to self-centered...

Anyway, I got some bad news today. I found out my contact in the area, who would deliver cash gifts for me, has been gone for several months!! It's going to be difficult to get in touch with my friends.

I see good in this though...As motivation for myself and anyone else viewing this thread, I'm going to commit to encouraging everyone to build relationships with the people we help out. Let's don't forget em.

Alright, baby steps right...making some calls tomorrow.

Donated $200 of my $1250 prize money from a charity fundraiser to the St. Monica Scholarship Fund.

St. Monica is an elementary school in South Philadelphia. The scholarship is given to an 8th-grader to help pay for high school.

There were about 30 players in the tournament and I chopped first place with another guy, who also gave $200.

Heard back from someone today that would be willing to help!!

Little effort and the ball gets rolling I guess

Donated $300 to Starlight Children's Foundation (seriously ill children and their families) in Australia last week. I donate varying amounts twice a year at Christmas and when I get my tax return.

I also am a volunteer with them throughout the year and will be helping a decent amount over the next two weeks to help out some people for Christmas.

Thanks everybody!!!! Using your posts and PM's i've gotten, here is the latest update on the goal thermometer.





I probably shouldn't have made this a PG&C thread since this is the fastest churning first page in all of 2+2, hell, the page completely refreshes every 3 hrs...

In any event, I hope you guys keep posting and if you are lurking, get off the fence and do some good for your fellow man

p.s. maton, who is the girl in your avatar

i sponser a kid in togo, not sure if that counts..

my bankroll and life bankroll is very small, but if i bink in a tournament soon, ill do something nice! cool thread!

Around the 22nd when i'm next in the city, will offer a talented and polite homeless man who busks nearby a meal and entry into a small tourney close by. Will also pay him into a nice hostel for the night.

Rough value £50 or $80

good idea

this deserves more

$200 donated to the National MS Society.

bump for reminders

I guess as a first go, this goal thread was okay. I think one mistake was putting it in the PG&C forum because this forum has the fastest first page cycle time of any 2+2 forum. Threads fall off the first page after just 4 hours so next year I think I will do this challenge in another forum room.

With that being said, I got a few PMs from people who donated to worthy causes and the Toys for Tots people kicked a lot of ass.

I'll tally everything up and post tomorrow.

hope everyone had a good Xmas

Donated a couple big blinds (10 bucks) worth to the Bring Love In charity as they were trying to raise 450 dollars to bring 45 orphans to an amusement park for the first time in their lives for the holidays.

It was posted on a Rutgers Football message board and they were able to get over $1,000 bucks on the first day alone that it was posted there.

Thinking about how much we can take for granted going to an amusement park as kids really hit me and I thought it was an awesome cause. That's my measly contribution.