Avalanche of charity requests does no good

Since late December I have received 117 mailed requests for donations from 43 charities. Many of these include several pages of heartwarming stories and all sorts of premiums available for minor donations.

As I only donate once a year, my garbage can is full of unopened solicitations. I have called and requested to be taken off mailing lists, and when I have donated I included a note requesting that they contact me once a year — all to no avail.

All this paper is wasted in numerous households and, in my case, getting to the point where if I receive more than four requests from any charity per year, I will not donate. The expense of this barrage of requests is also a waste of money that could be used for the purpose of the charity and may help make a difference. Go green and stop wasting resources.

Eve Barson

Schaumburg