Charity While Traveling in Europe?

Too general a question…..”Europe” is a land of contrasts too broad for your question. I was peripherally involved with a church charity in a European town with a large American garrison and random American tourists as well. There were numbers of soldiers who left active service in a foreign country without returning stateside. They became invisible to the local social welfare network and largely non existent to the American population. Their lot in life was not pleasant.

I knew Americans and locals who took what action they could. It wasn’t a long complicated spiritual project but immediate action with practical grounding from living locally. The RS crowd is not well equipped for that reality.

I would be hesitant to try understanding a local climate and attempt all manner of action for a place where I was not “local” and only guided by a spiritual checklist. Not against charity but absent specific knowledge of an area I want to engage in more than gestures.

Just an alternative perspective of a complicated issue…..

Have you ever visited a place in Europe, or seen a circumstance during
your travels in Europe that touched you to the point where you wanted
to become involved,

Sorry, I fail to see how that is too general. I will assume "no".

Not really an answer to the query but there have been a few certain museums or house/museums where before exiting I drop a 20 Euro bill into the donation container in France and Germany...a snippet of financial assistance.

Fred, that's real. Sometimes contributing to a culture in that way goes deeper than you would expect.

In general, and this is quite the generalization, I find that there are two basic giving styles. One is someone who sits down, explores giving opportunities, and then commits to supporting the chosen charities on a consistent and long term approach. The second is someone who is moved in the moment and donates to an immediate need they see. One isn’t necessarily better than the other and both are needed in our society.

I tend to be the planner with long term relationships with my chosen charities. I don’t round up at the store for the charity of the week, and if I am giving in response to an immediate need it is usually through one of my regular charities. That greatly reduces travel related giving.

I have visited Rwanda as part of my support for a charity there. I don’t think that quite qualifies as Europe though…..

Our small contribution that I suppose relates to this topic is that I always pay an equivalent ‘admission’ amount in any religious or museum setting that I visit where there is no admission charge. As I am not a taxpayer or church member already contributing, this is my way to acknowledge the work and funds needed to maintain these properties for all of us to visit.

As someone who lives in Europe, for me it is community service. My area is K9 SAR through the DLRG, the German lifeguarding organisation. If I were in the US, it would be similar.

I am also likely to drop a few Euros in the donation box of a church or small museum I visit.

And those last few posts are reasonable and what is the norm, and good. This thread was the result of my friends returning to Latin America to work on schools again. I was just curious if anyone else had been bitten on a trip or ran across something that moved them enough to stay with it. It's a subject I have strong feelings for.

We've done the same with alms boxes at churches that generously allow visits to their treasures for free. But do financial contributions towards relief efforts related to catastrophic events in far-away locations count? We've done that as even if we could have traveled to some of them, reserving human bulk to those highly trained in disaster response (medical, construction, debris removal, etc.) was likely the better idea.