Rue & Primavera Dec. 2017

Which Charity Heal Your Hands Should I Donate To? At the peak of the holiday season, many Americans find themselves overcome by a spirit of generosity and goodwill. Many people go beyond finding the perfect gift for friends and family and give their time or money to a charitable organization, seeking to make the holidays a little better for those worse off than themselves.

It’d be hard to overstate the importance of our hands. We use them for everything, from performing our most basic functions like eating and drinking, to putting food on the table, literally and figuratively. It’s hard to imagine a job that doesn’t require the use of your hands, or a day that could go by without using your hands hundreds of times. It’s no wonder, then, that ordinary wear and tear can cause issues like carpal tunnel syndrome or “tennis elbow,” or that people suffer from chronic issues, like arthritis, as a result. Accidents or trauma can also damage your hands. How you go about treating that damage can be tricky. Operations are expensive and can sometimes leave you less mobile than before. No matter what, there’s always a risk, and even if the operation is successful, you’re still going to need therapy to get back to normal. Our clinic can help. From basic therapy for all kinds of hand injuries and hand pain, to instructions on exercises and stretches to do at home, to postoperative therapy, we have the ability to help your hands. Even difficult issues, like nerve damage, that’s left you unable to feel properly, can be addressed with the right treatment plan and a good occupational/ hand therapist. We use all kinds of techniques to get your hands back to where they should be. Exercises, splints, edema control, hot and cold packs, sensory education, laser treatments, and work stimulation are just a few of the many tools in our toolbox, and we’ll find the ones that work for you and your specific medical needs. Often splinting is needed and we can make you a custom splint that will address your specific condition. Don’t spend another year worrying about the state of your hands or suffering from pain that we can help with. Get in touch today, and start 2018 with hand therapy that will work for you.

But with thousands upon thousands of charities to choose from, how we do ensure our dollars are truly going to the best possible cause?

It may seem obvious, but it’s best not to hand your credit card info to an anonymous organization soliciting your aid. The IRS has little regulatory power over most charitable organizations since they don’t typically pay taxes. As a result, it’s all too easy to be defrauded.

“Never give a gift where you didn’t initiate the communication,” advises Tim Meisenheimer, a certified financial planner. Calls can be a red flag, as charities who employ telemarketers are much less likely to receive the entirety of your donation. If you’re donating online, he also advises you to check that there’s a “https” at the beginning of the URL, which indicates a secure connection. But the best way to avoid shady scammers is to research the charity before you hand over your cash. One helpful resource is CharityNavigator.org, a charity-screening website where you can scrutinize a charity’s rating, spending habits, category, and much more. When examining a charity, they look for all kinds of red flags, such as if they spend more than one-third of their budget on administrative costs or if they aren’t forthcoming about their operations and expenditures. If you’re unsure of where to donate, check out their list of “Charities With Perfect Scores.” If you want to provide humanitarian aid, Direct Relief (DirectRelief.org) is a well-known charity, and it has a perfect rating of 100 on Charity Navigator. They provide medical treatment in resource-poor communities. If you’re more inclined to protect the environment, check out The Conservation Fund (ConservationFund.org), which seeks to preserve natural resources while fostering economic development in America. Education-minded donors should look up Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO-usa. org), another organization with a perfect 100 from Charity Navigator. They strive to provide robust education for underserved communities. There are thousands of excellent charities to donate to, and many of them are probably right in your backyard.

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