SL and Real life charities.

I've been running a shop for a wile now for which 90% of $L are sold for real cash to be donated to children's charities and a local children's shelter. not a big sum but it comes out to almost $100 USD a month even with as little traffic as my store goes.

I've not seen many other stores like mine, just a fundraising event time to time.
people just don't realize there is real value in L$ and the difference it can make in the real world.

so lets talk about what charities or scams you've seen in SL.

One of the most notable is Jade Lily's Relay For Life yearly events. They're large scale, very well done, and very successful.

As for stores that donate profits to charity on a regular basis... Just because people don't advertise it, doesn't mean it isn't happening. Many people donate to charity simply for the sake of helping, and not for gaining recognition or kudos for having donated, and therefore never see the need of advertising that fact. Following Katrina, I could have put up large signs declaring that the profits of sales would go to helping a family find a place to live, which they did, or I could have just worked harder and produced more, hoping to increase sales, which is what I opted to do.

As for scams... I freely admit to being cynical, but I'm far more reluctant to give my money to anyone claiming it will all go to charity on a regular basis than I am to the one-time big events that get a lot of attention. People too often use the kindness of strangers as a means to exploit and serve themselves.

Last year, during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, there were many fundraisers held in-world, the recipient being the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. As I recall, some L$2 million was raised during the various events, which at the then-current exchange rate meant some US$8,000 being donated.

From what I have seen, SL residents are exceedingly generous.

P2