FREEPers: I want to donate a car to charity. Recommendations?

FREEPers Everywhere!

[Recovering_Democrat]

Fellow FREEPers:

The time has come for me to donate my old vehicle. It still runs but is not a beauty cosmetically speaking. :) We will just be getting another vehicle and the trade-in value is pretty low, so I'd rather just let someone else have it.

Now I've done a bit of research and have not come up with anything worthwhile--one place supposedly takes cars and gives them to poor people (Charity Cars, Inc.), but a rating by a charity rating moderator only gives them a 2 out of 4 stars. I'd like to find a higher quality organization.

So I am asking FREEPers if they know of a good charity that will take a still-running but admittedly old and a bit ugly vehicle and use it for good purposes.

I think they sell these cars and take the money, but there are so many "Donate your vehicle" sites on the web these days, it is hard to determine which ones are worthy of my time.

That is why I'm asking for your input!

Thanks!

RD

[digger48]

Goodwill, I believe

[bad company]

Salvation army.

[patton]

Be careful on taxes - you can no longer deduct market value, unless you meet a host of restrictions.

[Dante3]

Is that just on cars or on other items also?

[MNJohnnie]

Believer most state chapters of Disabled American Veterans have a Car Donation program

[BeckB]

If you can get to Medina, Tx donate it to Medina Children's Home. Or in Olkahoma, Tipton Children's Home.
They do wonderful work with kids.

[Conservative4Life]

My two favoritea are:

DAV- Disabled Veterans
and
SYP- Sheriff's Youth Programs of MN

[mockingbyrd]

We gave ours to St. Vincent de Paul society.

[patton]

Big-ticket items - cars, boats, etc.

[fatima]

Are you in Florida?Check Cancer,Veterans,heck check your local paper.I can tell most have a dealer pick it up and the charity get very little.

[kingu]

The best charity is yourself. Pick a friend of your children who needs a car, or that kid down the street who needs a first ride. Don't know any? Ask the pastor of your church (if not offer to them in the first place), call your local religious run food bank, or pick up the phone and call your local teen center and ask who is a deserving teen to get your car.

Your car will go to a worthy cause, and you'll know who you helped.

[lowbridge]

Are you trading in the Bentley or the Rolls?

(I always wanted to say that.)

[george76]

http://www.donationline.com/search_charity.html

[econjack]

I usually choose a charity that gives me the most bang for the buck. For example, one well-known charity I used to give to was always hounding me for contributions, which I usually gave. Finally, one year I asked for an audited financial statement for the previous year's operations. I was stunned to learn that, while they collected almost $33 million, only $18,000 and some change was actually paid to the people I was trying to help. Folks...that a .9995 administrative overhead!

From that point on, I don't give to any charity that is unwilling to give me an audited financial statement.

[plain talk]

In the 1980s I donated a car to Disabled Vets.

[george76]

http://www.donatecars.com/salvationarmy.htm

[Slings and Arrows]

'72 Ford Pinto - Hillary in '08 PAC

[WBL 1952]

Try calling a community college that has an auto repair program. That is what I did.

[rawcatslyentist]

S A

Forget goodwill, they will resell it, instead of using it to help someone.