this is such a great article! Thanks for the hint, Asher - my bot votes you automatically, but obviously this read needs human attention :-)

The information about Red Cross really shocks me. You won't believe it but I'm negotiating with them right now. I've started to develop a charity project on my island recently, but without an established institution it'll be very complicated to get things done like I'm planning to do... I don't have the network they have! So that's why I asked for an appointment and will have it at the end of this month. Now after reading your warning I doubt if they'd be the right partner. It's not the first time that I hear about these rumors... are they rumors?
Fact is that I have the money in this case and the only thing I want them to do is provide me with the contacts of the people in need. So just in case they suggested using part of the money for administrative stuff, then I'd kick them out right away and try to find a new partner.

I still haven't gained any personal experience in that area, but I have the feeling that we need to take matters into our own hands if we want to make a real change. Steemit is definitely a network that could be suitable for that purpose.

Thanks for bringing this out! And yes, I love the idea of you painting a class room wearing a steemit shirt :-) We all should consider activities like that...

PS: If I were you I'd mention the "good cause" in the title of your article... Like "Steemit for better" or something like that. Many people only read headlines... And I really hope more users will open this great piece of content! Resteemed it hoping to provide you with some more attention.