Charitable donations are a holiday tradition.  Will you be making charitable donations this holiday season? Around this time of year, people begin thinking of making their end of year charitable donations. They are on the search for one or more worthy charities. However, knowing who to donate to can be difficult. There are so many worthy causes. Which one will make the best use of your hard earned dollars?

Charity fraud is a concern. There are many stories about various scams and fraudulent practices to be aware of. Americans are generous people and are sometimes easy marks for unscrupulous scammers. Many people use websites like Charity Navigator.  Websites like this allow you to check out the charities you are considering. This is a great idea, but sometimes smaller local charities might not be listed. Often these small er charities are the ones most in need of your donations.

As you probably already know UUFN’s Social Justice Committee coordinates our Share the Plate Program. Over the years Social Justice Committee members have carefully cultivated, and continue to cultivate, a list of charities that they consider worthy of receiving a Share the Plate donation from our fellowship.  This list is also worthy of your consideration. The list includes many local charities, but also national and international charities. When choosing charities the committee keeps the Seven Principles of the Unitarian Universalist faith in mind. So perhaps if you’re looking for a charity to send a year-end holiday donation to, you might like to check the list of charities that have received Share the Plate donations on our Share the Plate website page.

The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Newark would like to wish you all a very happy holiday season. We invite you to check our website frequently in the coming weeks for information on upcoming holiday events including a holiday craft fair, Winter Solstice Celebration, Christmas Services, and our annual New Year’s Eve Labyrinth Walk.