An American charity is offering to pay British drug or alcohol addicts 200 pounds to be sterilised – and has already had its first taker. But the idea has been attacked in the UK as exploiting the vulnerable at their lowest ebb.

Project Prevention, which runs a similar scheme in the U.S. offering adults $300 to use long term or permanent birth control, aims to reduce the number of babies born with drug or alcohol addictions as a result of their parents’ habits.

Barbara Harris, who set up the charity after adopting the children of an addict, is offering to pay addicts in London, Glasgow, Bristol, Leicester and Wales who are willing not to have children.

“I get very angry about the damage that drugs do to these children,” she told the BBC’s Inside Out programme. “I’m not forcing people to be sterilised. I offer them a choice of contraception but people want to focus on the extremes.”

“The social workers and their like have done their best for years and it’s not good enough. I’m offering something different, and paying addicts for being responsible.”

The project, funded by donations from the public, has already had its first British client, a 38-year-old heroin addict who had been involved in drugs since he was 12.

“It was something that I had been thinking about for a long time,” the man, named only as John, told the BBC. “I won’t be able to support a kid: I can just about manage to support myself.”

But British drug and alcohol charity Addaction, which estimates around 1.3 million children under 16 have a parent with a serious drug or drink problem, criticised the idea as exploitative.

“It is an approach to an addict when they’re at their lowest possible ebb. It doesn’t deal with addicts who are already parents, it doesn’t help people recover, and it doesn’t offer any kind of positive solution,” said Addaction chief executive Simon Antrobus.

“We are also concerned that the cash that is being offered will end up in the hands of dealers, helping to perpetuate a problem that is damaging families and communities up and down the UK.” While both sides certainly have good points I am sure it will be public support one-way or another that will decide if this continues.

Just like this Q & A from the LA Times (below) says, many if not most charity car programs take fees that drastically reduce the amount of funds being passed on to your favorite charity.  At www.CharityCar.us we don’t have to take any fees because the cars themselves are going directly to auto recyclers across North America.

Please be careful next time you donate your car, make sure to find out if there are fees being charged and what percentage goes to the charity of your choice.

Standard Auto Wreckers collected used TIRES to raise money for The Sunshine Foundation of Canada this past weekend and the event was a major success! Thanks to everyone that participated!

In partnership with Ontario Automotive Recyclers Association (OARA) and Ontario Tire Stewardship (OTS), Standard Auto Wreckers will be collecting you used tires free of charge. All tire fees associated with each tire dropped off will be donated to The Sunshine Foundation of Canada and OARA will match the donation made from all tires collected.

There will be a trailer parked at the Standard Auto Wreckers location for the Tire Collection event.

Video taken by IDF naval boat shows the passengers of the Mavi Marmara, one of the ships in the ‘Free Gaza’ Flotilla, violently attacking IDF soldiers who were trying to board the ship after having sent repeated requests for the boat to change course.

Large groups of passengers surrounded soldiers and beat them with metal poles and chairs, and threw one soldier over the side of the ship. Some passengers grabbed pistols from the IDF soldiers and opened fire. As a result of the attacks, seven IDF soldiers were injured, and nine of the passengers were killed.

The ‘Free Gaza’ Flotilla had publicly insisted on their non-violent intentions, however their violent attack on the IDF soldiers was clearly premeditated. They had knives, metal rods, firebombs and other items ready to use.

What is better than seeing beautiful stars walking the red carpet?  Seeing them walking for charity of course!  Halle Berry, Jessica Alba and Jessica Biel slipped into their charity shoes during the weekend to take part in the annual Revlon Run/Walk For Women in New York.

The 13th annual Entertainment Industry Foundation event started in Times Square and finished in Central Park, attracting thousands of people to raise funds for women’s cancer research, counseling and outreach programs in NYC.

“I can’t tell you how happy I am to be here,” said Berry. “I am walking today on behalf of a friend of mine, Stephanie, who is fighting the fight every day. I feel you, I’m with you, and it’s important that we’re all here today.” Halle is a veteran of the Revlon Run/Walk For Women events, taking part in many of them.

Saturday’s event also featured Dr. Oz and Jesse L. Martin, as well as a performance by Trey Songz. Next week, it’s Los Angeles’ turn to host the event, with celebrities such as Julie Bowen (ABC’s Modern Family), James Denton (ABC’s Desperate Housewives), Marg Helgenberger (CBS’ CSI: Crime Scene Investigation) and Carrie Ann Inaba (ABC’s Dancing with the Stars) set to take part. The 17th annual LA event takes place on May 8, and more info can be found here.

Proceeds from past EIF Revlon Run/Walks have funded cutting-edge research, contributing to the development of the breakthrough gene treatment Herceptin as well as other targeted therapies, bringing new and innovative treatment approaches to women’s cancers worldwide. Monies raised have also helped numerous organizations in providing education, advocacy and outreach services to those affected by women’s cancers.

Ford is launching a program this week that links test drives of Ford vehicles on military bases to donations to local chapters of the National Military Family Association.

The program, “Drive One 4 UR Troops” is part of a 10-base tour called “Operation Drive One” that also features vehicle displays, entertainment and classic car shows. The shows will also raise money for the National Military Family Association.

For each test-drive taken as part of the “Drive one 4 UR Troops” Ford will donate $20 (up to $10,000) to the local chapter of the National Military Family Association (NMFA).

Ford says former pro-wrestler Goldberg — now the actor Bill Goldberg on NBC’s “The Celebrity Apprentice” — will also join the tour and make an appearance at each stop.

Ford will also pick eight veterans (among past and present military personnel who sign up at www.fordoperationdriveone.com) for a trip to the Ford Championship NASCAR race weekend in November. Of those veterans, two will also win a new 2011 Ford Mustang and one grand-prize winner will be awarded a Toby Keith concert for his or her home base.  Great idea and keep up the good charity work Ford!

Toronto, ON (CharityCar) March 5, 2010 — CharityCar (www.CharityCar.us and www.CharityCar.ca), green vehicle disposal (www.greenvehicledisposal.com) and charity car donation company, today announced that its total donations processed for 2009 exceeds $91,000 USD. Over the course of the year, 50% of customers traded their vehicles in for cash while the other 50% donated the money to charity. This trend is expected to continue in 2010.

CharityCar would like to thank its many generous donors across North America who, despite the economic downturn, contributed to its success; more importantly, the success of its supported charities and the betterment of the environment.

David Gold from Standard Auto Wreckers (www.standardautowreckers.com) and the founder of the program said: “We originally started this program to give back to our local community in Toronto, Ontario and when friends in the business heard about what we were doing they all wanted to join in. Now, three years later, we have over 150 partner charities and more than 70 member recyclers in both Canada and the USA participating! It really is heartwarming to see.”

About CharityCar
CharityCar (CharityCar.us and CharityCar.ca) accepts the donation of old vehicles on behalf of charities and non-profit organizations across North America. CharityCar utilizes its partner Green Vehicle Disposal’s eco-friendly recycling technology, offers ‘free pickup’, does not take any fees for processing or handling charity vehicles and donates 100% of the recyclers value to the customers’ chosen charity in the United States or Canada. CharityCar’s purpose is to provide its customers with an eco-friendly solution for the disposal of old vehicles. All vehicles donated through CharityCar are disposed of in an eco-friendly manner which meets and exceed all recycling rules. For more information, visit: www.CharityCar.us or www.CharityCar.ca.

They are proud to practice environmentally sound processes when dismantling and recycling our vehicles. This is achieved by properly draining all hazardous fluids from the vehicle thereby not having them drain into the ground. They remove Mercury switches and other dangerous substances from the vehicles and dispose of them in a safe way in accordance with local laws.

It is bad enough to be a thief but these crooks have stolen $2,000 worth of parts from cars intended for needy people and veterans.

“Car Santa” Terry Franz, founder of Cars 4 Christmas, assessed the damage Tuesday. Catalytic converters worth $100 each had been cut out from underneath 20 cars owned by the charity.

The parts were stolen while the donated cars waited to be assessed at A Auto, a tow company lot across the street from the Kansas City Police Department’s South Patrol station on Hickman Mills Drive.

Kansas City police said the robbery happened sometime between Monday night and Tuesday afternoon.

“Somebody had to come in during the night in 20-degree weather, climb under the cars, take out a saw and cut out the catalytic converters,” Franz said.

The 15-year-old charity gives away about 300 cars annually, first on Christmas as part of Cars 4 Christmas, and then for veterans as part a newer program, Cars 4 Heroes.

A wheelchair lift had been scheduled to be installed in one van Wednesday, Franz said. Instead the van will be visiting a muffler shop, and the disabled woman for whom it was meant will have to wait. Franz estimated repairs will reach $3,000, including labor.  Crooks that steal from charities are especially pathetic, I hope these folks get caught and get a good whooping in jail!

We just made it over the 1,000 follower mark yesterday and I wanted to take some time to thank all our loyal followers.

Kids Mobility Network, Inc. is a non-profit organization that is changing the lives of children with disabilities.

Greenopolis is about doing good.

Help Recycle is spreading the green word.

The Green Business Bureau is quickly becoming the standard for green business certification and accountability.

The Daily Green is for everyday average real eco-conscious people.

and a warm heart-felt thanks to everyone else that has followed us!

We are pleased to officially re-launch our new website redesign and to celebrate we are offering all new charity signs ups a chance to win an iPod Shuffle and other great prizes like CharityCar.us official merchandise!  All new sign ups and referrals to the program that meet our partnership criteria will be entered into a random draw that will take place on June 30, 2010 – winners will be contacted by phone and have their names posted on this blog.

If your charity or non-profit does not currently have a charity car donation program or you have one that is just too expensive, let us help!  We give one hundred percent of the recyclers valuation to your charity and take zero fees.  We do the work and all your charity or non-profit has to do is issue the tax receipts!  Fill out the charity registration form now and get started accepting charity cars with seven days!