If you could give a million dollars to any non-profit other than FIRST...

[Billfred]

...what would it be?

(I'll post mine once this gets warmed up. I don't want to sway this any which way.)

<edit>Oh, and no FIRST-related organizations, either. Sorry, teams.</edit>

[Jay H 237]

I would go with the Make-A-Wish Foundation. They have done some amazing things for a lot of children.

[Ben Lauer]

American Cancer society - I have a good friend that works/volunteers for them...I here stories of touched lives.

[Amanda Morrison]

Red Cross. But please - don't ever think that donating money is enough. You should always dedicate your time and effort to something, whether or not you have money to donate.

For instance, donate blood every chance you can (every 8-10 weeks). You help someone out and still get the satisfaction of free cookies. I'm a big advocate of donating blood - I ran a blood drive at my high school once and helped to run it two other times. There's nothing more satisfying than finding out how many lives you saved in just a few hours.

[Ricky Q.]

I would proabably donate to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (www.cff.org). I had one of my really good friends die of CF when I was younger, and I've always wanted to help that out.

And Amanda is right, donate blood!

[MissInformation]

Red Cross already gets my blood and I'm team captain for a Relay for Life team that has raised over $10,000 for the American Cancer Society in the past four years so I would probably choose different groups to donate too. Groups I would consider are Habitat for Humanity (this is one I want to volunteer for one day too), the ASPCA (I've cried over Animal Precinct too many times to ignore this one), First Book (their single mission: to give children from low-income families the opportunity to read and own their first new books) and there really are way too many good causes, so I'll just stick with these three for this suppose...

Heidi

[evulish]

Rather than giving it all to ACS where it goes to people all over the nation, I'd keep it and donate personally to people who need it locally. I've known so many people who have had.. or died from cancer. There used to be a race in the area for cancer.. and the money stayed local. I think the ACS came in and started a lawsuit against the race to get the money and use it for their charity so it didn't stay local. Or maybe I got my facts mixed up.. but I'm pretty sure about it.

I've donated more time than money in the community. I've helped rebuild bunches of barns that have burnt down, picked up garbage, did relay for life.. along with some other things.

[Billfred]

Personally, I'd split my money a few ways.

First, I'd probably give a fair amount to my school district to continue improvements on the Irmo High School cafeteria. When I graduated, it sure needed it. (After all, fed minds are working minds!)

After that, I'd send the remainder to the local food bank here, Harvest Hope. They help out a large part of the state, and having food is always a pretty darn useful thing. You can't really fight cancer or solve life's big problems if you can't eat, so if we can make sure everyone's eating, then we can move on to bigger things.

[shyra1353]

I would probably split it between Red Cross, The Salvation Army and Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation .. I have been diabetic for 9 years and have many diabetic friends .. I have volunteered at their walk for the past couple years, with the exception of this year courtesy of exams.

[Joe Matt]

American Cancer Society, my grandmother died of cancer this year, and anything that helps educate people about it and funds research is great, since hopefully they won't have to go through what I had to.

[RudimentaryPeni]

i would donate mine to an organization called Food NOT Bombs. They provide resorces for the homeless and do other notable things.

[Yan Wang]

Perhaps ACLU.

[Ashley Weed]

I would have to donate to an organization such as Easter Seals which helps children and adults with disabilities. In addition, I would try to find a University and teaching hospital (perhaps one that I am close too) that is working on SMA (Spinal Muscular Atrophy), Neurological Disorders in Children, or Neruomuscular and Autoimmune Disorders - and donate money to their research projects.

[jlee25]

wow... great question..... there are honestly just too many to choose from. but i guess i would pick the american cancer society or one of the ones that fights against drunk driving since both have affected family members....

[Joe3]

I'd donate it to JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) two of my sisters have "Type 2" Diabetes, which is the type where you are diagnosed as a child, and need to take insulin shots, via injections, or an insulin pump. One of them was diagnosed when she was four, the other when she was 9. So yeah, thats where my million would go.