It’s the fourth day of my 12 Days of Charitable Giving for 2019. Readers have suggested deserving charities over the past few weeks, and I’ll be posting the results here. Today’s charity is Food To The Rescue (FTTR).
According to recent studies, one in five children in Middle Tennessee does not know where their next meal will come from. Free lunches may be available at school, but what happens when school is closed? FTTR delivers meals to local children which otherwise would not have food during seasonal school breaks. The goal of FTTR is to ensure that time away from school does not cause children to go hungry.
How do they do it? FTTR partners with local businesses, volunteers, and delivery persons to assist in distributing meals to children enrolled in their program.
So how can you help? To make a one-time donation, click over to Paypal or Venmo.
For federal income tax purposes, if you plan to claim a deduction for a cash contribution, you’ll want to keep a record of the donation. Ideally, the organization will provide a written record with the name of the charity, date, and amount of the contribution.
FTTR depends on volunteers to help with deliveries. For information on how you can donate your time, email foodtotherescuevol@yahoo.com. Remember that you can’t deduct the cost of your time or services as a volunteer even if you can value your time. However, as a volunteer, you can deduct the cost of related out of pocket expenses – including mileage.
Do your homework. As always, you want to make sure that your donation is going to a qualified charitable organization. A search using the IRS’ new Tax Exempt Organization Search (formerly Select Check) reveals that Food To The Rescue is on the list.
To find out more about the work of the organization, check out their website, like them on Facebook, or follow them on Instagram.
I often suggest checking out third-party sites like Charity Navigator for more information about charitable organizations, including evaluations and access to tax forms and other financials. Food To The Rescue is not ranked on Charity Navigator because it has less than $1 million in annual revenue (you can find out how to evaluate an unrated charity here).
Remember: Readers nominate their favorite charities to the 12 Days of Charitable Giving, and in most cases, I can’t personally vouch for the organizations. So be generous but be smart: Do your homework.
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