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Talk of the bay
Charity Checks are gifts of giving for recipients
By KRIS HUNDLEY
Published December 19, 2005
For the third year in a row, Terry Dunham of St. Petersburg is giving about 20 relatives the gift of giving.
He's sending them Charity Checks, the brainchild of a Los Angeles couple who have headed the volunteer-run effort since 1999. The checks sell for face value minimum, $25 plus a $5 shipping and handling fee and can be purchased by phone or Internet (www.charitychecks.us) The buyer gets an immediate tax deduction. The recipient forwards the checks to a favorite charity, choosing from among more than 800,000 IRS-approved nonprofits.
Dunham, 59, said Charity Checks accomplish what he has been trying to do privately for years: encourage giving in the next generation. One recipient is Ben Freer, Dunham's 22-year-old nephew in northern Kentucky. His Charity Check goes to a local Boys and Girls Club, which uses the cash to fund a shopping spree for needy kids.
Freer, who just started graduate school, sheepishly admitted that if his uncle sent cash, he might spend some on himself.
"A Charity Check doesn't tempt the recipient," he said. "We're given things all the time, and it's nice to know that charities can count on this cash."
[Last modified December 16, 2005, 20:21:02]
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