"Aren't all of these charities just putting a Band-Aid on a serious problem?"

It's a question you hear every once in a while, in one form or another, when you're involved in ministry or volunteering with any community service group.

And, it's a legitimate question to ask: Are all of our donations really doing any good? Are they actually changing lives or merely patching over some greater need that can never really be fixed?

One immediate thought is this: If you're bleeding, you still need a Band-Aid. Even temporary solutions are important; they give us time to deal with the bigger problems.

But, back to the original question. You don't always know how your kindness changes lives, but often you do.

Meet Karen Brown, a successful local real estate agent who's been contributing a lot of her time this fall, explaining to groups how individual donations can save families — not just for the short-term, but for generations.

When she found herself in a dangerous situation and facing divorce, the New York native had little money and no family nearby to help. She found her own salvation in HAVEN in Lee County, a local nonprofit working tirelessly for almost 25 years to assist women and families facing domestic violence.

Karen describes how the counseling and legal help she received was a real blessing when things seemed desperate, and she recalls, to this day, how kind the volunteers were. "Right away, I got the clear impression that these agencies really care about people," she says. "I never felt like a number. I was never treated like some poor, unfortunate person who had to come ask for assistance."

It would have been wonderful if that were the only time Karen needed a little help. But when she was scheduled for a cancer treatment and couldn't get to the hospital in Durham, she received assistance from Highway to Healing, a group of volunteers providing free transportation for cancer patients who can't get to their doctor's appointment or treatment center.

After Karen began rebounding and went back to school to help her family get ahead, there was the time she needed a hand paying tuition for one course. Enter Central Carolina Community College Financial Aid, which provides emergency funding for students needing assistance with educational expenses.

That's a lot of help for one person, you may be thinking, and what does this have to do with changing a family for generations?

Let's start with Karen. Not only is she successful in her career, but she has "paid back" what she received many times over — by volunteering, herself, and contributing a percentage of each real estate sale she makes, allowing others to receive the same kind of help she did. Karen helps shape our community as a United Way board member. And she donates her time speaking with civic and business groups about how charitable contributions can change lives.

Then, there's the next generation. Karen's daughter grew up seeing the kind of help her mother received and watching Mom take online college courses at home. It made such an impact that, when the youngster moved to New York, she joined the U.S. Army National Guard to make her own contribution.

When the Twin Towers fell that now-infamous morning of September 11, she was called up for duty early in the afternoon. "I can't talk," she told her mother by phone. "I've got to get my bag and report to the armory."

Having finished her second college degree, this one in philosophy, Karen's daughter is planning to enter law school and now serves as an intern with an attorney in New York City who helps veterans who can't afford legal counsel. Her own goal is to become a voice for people who don't have one.

So, I guess the answer is, "Yes, charitable contributions do change lives." For generations. And Karen is living proof of what people in this area have worked together to accomplish.