Giving more than Tuesday

Recently I heard a comment on TV about how Giving Tuesday, a day designed to bring awareness to non-profits and charitable giving, could have been possibly scheduled for a day other than within the week of rabid consumerism that is the week after Thanksgiving, if for no other reason than people would have more disposable cash to donate. While I believe this is a fair concern, I was very pleased to read that more than a few people found a way to balance the Black Friday shopping for themselves with helping others.

Provided you have funds, it is easy to write a check on a single day of the year. Its quite harder to keep up the momentum throughout the rest of the year. Did you know that there is an organization devoted to promoting random acts of kindness throughout the year, but especially in Feb (RAK Week 2014 is Feb 11 – 17). I like this organization because many of the random acts of kindness ideas are suggested by young kids who are giving back just because it is the right thing to do and not only to make their resumes look stronger.

This year, shortly before Thanksgiving, my husband and I wanted to introduce our older son to volunteerism. We were participating in one of the many Stop Hunger Now meal preparation events. We had explained about how there are people in the world not as fortunate as he was, but when it was time to head out, he decided he would much rather stay with his Nana. At first I was a little disheartened – I thought that perhaps that our message had been lost. When I returned though I was pleased to find out that he had made a point of raiding his Nana’s pantry for a canned food donation. Obviously his effort hadn’t feed thousands, but I like to think that he made a difference for one family and sometimes that is all that you can hope for. Small acts of kindness throughout the year really do add up.

Another thing I am trying to do this season is change some of my habits for the better. Yes, New Year’s Day is still weeks away, but I am better off laying the groundwork for my resolutions now rather then the evening before. More than a few years ago, I heard of an alternative search engine, associated with Yahoo that donated to your select charity (mine is the SPCA) every time you searched called www.goodsearch.com. I am always searching online for something or another – it could be a nice start.