OPEN PALMS: GOOD, NOT-SO-GOOD ORGANIZATIONS COUNT ON CHRISTMAS GIVING

Toys for needy children, food for the hungry, money for the poor.

Around Christmastime it seems everyone stands with an open palm, waiting for some softhearted person to fill it.

This is one of the best times for charities to solicit donations. While the holidays have become more and more commercialized, most people still talk about the reason for the season -- to reflect on religion, family, good health and a variety of blessings. They want to help those who won't have such bright holidays.

Barbara Barklage, a counselor at Community Counseling Center in Cape Girardeau, said Christmas is a time for our "good sides" to emerge.

"It makes us feel good to help others," she said. "Sometimes people even go a little overboard, buying more gifts for their kids than they can afford or running up their charge cards."

Many legitimate charities depend on this seasonal giving spirit for their budgets.

Perhaps the charity most identified with Christmas is the Salvation Army. Shoppers are used to the sight of shivering bellringers tending their kettles, waiting for someone to drop in a few dollars.

Capt. Robert Gauthier said a third of the Cape Girardeau branch's budget comes in through those kettles and in the mail around Christmas. His organization currently is about $45,000 short of this year's $160,000 goal.

After paying for Christmas food baskets, Gauthier will use the rest of the money throughout the year. The Salvation Army provides emergency shelter, medications, money for utility bills and a variety of other things.

The groups resources are usually taxed around the holidays.

"Last week was terrible," Gauthier said. "We housed two individuals a night. It seems more and more people are making bad choices -- coming here for work and finding none or coming here with friends and being left behind."

When such people come to the Salvation Army, they must be fed, housed and transported back to where they came from. All of that takes a lot of money.

The American Cancer Society mails solicitations around the first of December. Local development specialist Brian Yarbrough said contributors call even before they get their letters. They want to know if ACS has a Christmas fund drive.

The letters go to anyone who has contributed in the past through any method.

"As far as a random mailing goes, we do fine," Yarbrough said. "Our other fund-raisers do better, but we feel the community wants to give around this time of year, and we want them to have a way to do so."

According to the American Institute of Philanthropy, a good rule of thumb is not to let your heart rule your head. The institute's president, Daniel Borochoff, said there are 1.2 million charities jockeying for American dollars. Not all of them are worthy.

The St. Louis-based AIP grades about 300 charities based on the percentage of their budget spent on charitable purposes, how much is spent on fund raising and how much money the organization has stockpiled. Organizations shouldn't be saving their money, Borochoff said. They should be spending it on their clientele.

The ratings are available for $3 from the AIP. If a charity isn't listed in the watchdog group's guide, people can ask how much money goes to clients and how much to administration.

"People tend to be passive with their charity resources," Borochoff said. "They just give because someone is asking, and they don't check things out.

"Ask yourself: Do you want to give your money to the group that feeds one kid on your $5 or the one that feeds two kids for the same amount?"