Donations Piling Up At Growing Number Of Charity Websites
BOSTON (CBS) - We hear a lot about dangers on the Internet, but there is also a lot of good going on, as more and more websites are starting up with the goal of using social media to help others.
The Rewolinskis do what they can to help others, but when they needed a hand recently they were blown away by the response.
WBZ-TV's Paula Ebben reports.
"We've never experienced so many people coming together for us, and that was just life-changing for us to know that there are people that want to and do care," said Angela Rewolinski.
Thousands of people heard about the Rewolinskis after they read about their need to protect their sons. Both have Autism and they wanted to buy a specially trained dog.
Within weeks, the website organizers surprised the family with a "love drop" of more than $13,000 -- enough to cover the fees for the dog.
"People were giving up coffee drinking for a month and using that money to give money for us," Rewolinski said.
Love Drop, Give Forward, Mommy Niri Cares, and Drop a Love Bomb are just a few of the growing number of web sites created to connect readers with people for a good cause.
The Love Drop founders have even put their own a twist on Internet-giving, sometimes seeking comments of compassion instead of cash.
"I wanted to use the same kind of idea from micro-giving in terms of time and attention and love," said Nate St. Pierre, co-founder of LoveDrop.US.
Ken Berger of Charity Navigator said because it's now so easy to set up websites, he expects to see more and more created for charitable purposes.
"A lot of these sites, it's basically one or two people that really want to help and they don't want to go through the bureaucracies," Berger said.
Berger warns that you still have to careful with these kinds of charity causes.
"The challenge or the danger is that because it's so easy to do somebody of ill will that wants to create something that's really a fraud can just as easily do so," he said.
Berger suggests you make sure you're dealing with a valid website, but also noted that if you're only giving a dollar, you don't have all that much to lose.
This is fine with the people at Love Drop, who will take your dollar and match it up with thousands of others for a good cause.
"I get up every single day and know that everything I do is making an impact," St. Pierre said. "It's literally changing the world."
One dollar at a time. One person at a time.
"I don't think there are words to even express the thank you out there," said Rewolinski.
Love Drop is always looking for people to help. If you know of someone with a good heart going through a tough time, let them know at LoveDrop.US.
The people at Love Drop continually review nominations and each month they choose a person or family they feel the community can help the most.
