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Cooper: Being charitable and being smart

Elder's Ace Hardware employee Tim Dennison carries boards during the United Way of Greater Chattanooga's Day of Caring in September at the Teacher Supply Depot on Roanoke Avenue.
Elder's Ace Hardware employee Tim Dennison carries boards during the United Way of Greater Chattanooga's Day of Caring in September at the Teacher Supply Depot on Roanoke Avenue. Elder's Ace Hardware employee Tim Dennison carries boards during the United Way of Greater Chattanooga's Day of Caring in September at the Teacher Supply Depot on Roanoke Avenue.

By Clint Cooper 4 min read

Charitable giving reached a record high in 2014 and is likely to do so again this year.

That’s good, of course, but now there are more hands out, more ways to be scammed and more criticism of givers in general.

It makes one wonder if it’s worth all the trouble.

It is.

Giving is not only biblical (a tithe – 10 percent – of earnings is often mentioned), but it often makes a difference in the lives of recipients and often results in the donor feeling even better than the recipient.