United Way. But Mom said that people work really hard for their money and should be allowed to give to the charities of their choice, not the company's choice. Now some of you might want to give to cancer charities, or children's charities or (hint, hint!) Dogs on Death Row. (Mom said I shouldn't be so self-serving!) So maybe it's an environmental charity, religious, or community charity. Bottom line, it's your money and you should decide who gets it.

In fairness, I should point out that depending on the United Way where you live you can earmark your gift to support a particular charity of your choice. But there's a catch; many of them require your gift to be a "health or human service" charity. They will NOT honor your instructions to send your gift to a dog rescue charity. They will keep your money for charities they choose instead of yours, often, without notifying you.

Big part, get ready, here's my challenge to you. If your company says you can only give to United Way go to the top! Contact the president! Tell them that if they trust you to make decisions for the company they should trust you to make decisions about a charity. Well, Mom says maybe it would be better to start with the human resources people. (Is there a canine resource department?)

If the United Way has not honored your gift instructions, contact United Workers for the Untied Way (that's not a misspelling). They'll show you how to MAKE United Way send your money to where you told them or otherwise return it to you. Go to www.theuntiedway.org.

Make your donations go to the charity of your choice! Even if it's not mine...MAKE IT YOURS!

Benji, Editor & Chief, DODR.org

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