[DavidC]

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Suppose that the only way that they can afford to pay for their kid's treatement is with the insurance that they get from their job, so they have to work, otherwise they can't afford the treatment.

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Firstly, this is smart. Thanks. (Keep in mind that I did say that I didn't know the whole story.)

But for some reason you guys are missing the idea that they're looking for cash so that they can afford to take time off work...

... so they're not losing their jobs, and they don't need to work if they have cash.

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Also, my understanding is that childhood cancer treatment is so incredibly expensive that even if they were to sell their home and car, it wouldn't make much of a dent as far as the total cost of care would eventually be.


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This is really really possible. I'm Canadian, so it's probably not as bad as if this were in the states, but I have no idea to be honest.

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Now granted, I don't know the full story either, and I'm saying that this is only a small possible set of circumstances that could prevent them from spending more time at the hospital, but I'm not the one who's making assumptions to make a couple of parents whose daughter is dying of cancer out to be deadbeat scam artists.

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Um... No. I said that I'd "feel" like a sucker (not be one). I said that I don't know the whole story. Maybe the parameters that you're throwing out here have been met. Maybe it's really expensive. I don't know and I'm really glad I've never had to experience anything like this. I really really hate the idea of this girl being sick, too. That part really sucks.

I understand that this is a hard thing to go through. But, I'm curious about what is really being done through donating to them. On one side, there's the aspect of showing compassion. It doesn't really matter if you are helping too much or not. It's just nice to know that people care. In a sense, it's a good thing to donate even if it doesn't make a dent, because it makes them feel better.

... But here's the thing that's nagging at me, basically the only thing: If they have a positive net worth after coming out of this, then what's being done as a result of donation is essentially helping them buy whatever is included in their net worth at the end of the ordeal, right?

I mean, if you gave them 10 grand, and at the end, they had spent time with their daughter, but owned a car worth 10 grand, wouldn't you have just bought them a car, rather than their time at the hospital? And keep in mind I'm not just talking about a car, which could be seen as something helpful to them working. What about their house? What about their RRSPs (retirement savings plan) if they have any of that left, etc. Basically, I'm not 100% sure that they actually need help, even though I know they're going through hard times.

(fwiw I'm pretty sure apartments have a lower monthly expense than a house, pretty much no matter where you go, but I could be wrong about that... some possibility exists, though, that they need to keep ownership of the house in order to leverage its equity to pay for medical bills.)