June 14, 2006 4:34PM # Voluntary Charity vs. Government Charity By [Michael F. Cannon](https://www.cato.org/people/michael-f-cannon) --- SHARE Chris Edwards’ [post](https://www.cato.org/2006/06/14/fema-for-ever-mis-appropriating/trackback/) on FEMA brought to mind a 2002 [*New York Times* article](http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/791618/posts), which I recently found on FreeRe​pub​lic​.com. The article concerned fiscal shenanigans at the United Way, and FreeRe​pub​lic​.com allowed readers to post comments. The following were representative: > “Why anyone would give money to (through) the United Way so they can skim their take is beyond me. Pick your favorite charity or cause, and give to them.” > > > “If anyone at work asks you to give through United Way, point them to the Salvation Army. The difference is like night and day.” Pity we never see comments like: > Why anyone would give money to FEMA is beyond me. Pick your favorite charity or cause, and give to them. > > > If anyone at work asks you to contribute to Medicaid or Food Stamps, point them to the Salvation Army. The difference is like night and day. As I told a (hostile) room of graduate social work students this morning, when charity is coerced, charities don’t have to try nearly as hard. ##### Related Tags [General](https://www.cato.org/general), [Health Care](https://www.cato.org/health-care), [Tax and Budget Policy](https://www.cato.org/tax-budget-policy), [Trade Policy](https://www.cato.org/trade-policy), [Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies](https://www.cato.org/herbert-stiefel-center-trade-policy-studies) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).