Neighborhoodtimes: Feel charitable? Donate a refund

Neighborhood Times

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Feel charitable? Donate a refund

By MARY JANE PARK
Published April 15, 2007

You only have until midnight Tuesday to file your taxes. But you can take as long as you need to decide how to spend your refund, if you're lucky enough to get one. Of the early returns filed electronically to the Internal Revenue Service this year, the average refund is $2,427. Neighborhood Times asked local charities how a donation in that amount might help. "For the smaller nonprofits, that would be huge," said Joan Marzi, executive director of the Pinellas Animal Foundation, which recently obtained a grant for nearly that much to replace a 19-year-old copy machine. Here are figures from selected agencies that responded:

ACADEMY PREP CENTER, ST. PETERSBURG:

-Textbooks for one class for one academic year.

COMMUNITY ACTION STOPS ABUSE (CASA):

-A one-month shelter stay for a domestic violence victim, including food, lodging and services.

-Provides Emergency Response Team services to two families in crisis for three months, which includes things like family violence prevention workshops and parenting classes.

MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, ST. PETERSBURG:

-One photo or print from an emerging artist.

-19 4-by-8 bricks or 10 8-by-8 bricks being sold to help pay for the museum expansion.

PARC (PINELLAS ASSOCIATION FOR RETARDED CHILDREN):

-Buys two months' worth of groceries for a residential group home for 15 individuals.

-Pays for 4.5 months' worth of diapers for the Discovery Learning Center preschool (4,796 total).

PET PAL RESCUE, ST. PETERSBURG:

-Pays for spaying or neutering about 50 animals.

-Provides vaccinations for 800 animals.

-Feeds all the animals in the shelter for a total of four months.

RESURRECTION HOUSE OF ST. PETERSBURG:

-Pays for one family to receive services for one full month, including transitional housing.

-Supplies Internet connection for the tutoring program, software and training materials, outreach education materials and brochures for six months.

ST. PETERSBURG FREE CLINIC:

-Purchases diabetic strips for 38 patients for a month so that sugar levels can be tested and patients can adjust diet and exercise accordingly.

-Buys gasoline for three months for Food Bank trucks and vans used to collect surplus and donated food.

SALVATION ARMY:

-Buys 970 meals for the homeless at $2.50 each. The organization averages 200 people per day in the Red Shield Lodge, 1400 Fourth St. S, St. Petersburg.