If you were having a hard time with money and struggling - think how horrible it would be to have someone hand you something that even THEY didnt want anymore... A friend of mine passed this article to me. I was thinking how some people do not understand the value in volunteerism and understanding what giving means because they have never known want. I think that we should require volunteerism in schools for our students just like we require gym credits to be met. Here are some statistics for you - Less than 30% of Americans volunteer throughout the course of a year. The typical volunteer is married, higher education, and probably parental. Of that group half of those individuals are involved in religious organizations. When presented with volunteering opportunities, 70% of teens were highly engaged and went back to repeated activities. Unfortunately those opportunities are not usually present outside of special non-profit or religious groups. This is just one article - there are a ton of articles out there on the subject. My thought was that if we encouraged more people to engage and learn the value of giving - we would build our culture and in turn build more character in those individuals living inside of the culture. Back to giving crap --- next time you have a clothes drive or food drive at work or somewhere --- dont reach for the can of Spam that is sitting in the back of your cupboard from last year along with the no salt can of spinach and bottle of no salt ketchup your spouse picked up with a coupon.... also just throw away that ugly puce sweater with the hole under the arm and the pain of jeans with the rip in the crotch --- give something that you personally love or go pick something completely new out to put in the donations bin this year... be the one who surprises and delights someone who is in need instead of just using giving as an excuse to toss out your old junk. There are many giving opportunities coming up in the next month --- what will you be giving? Will you be giving at all?
Posted on: Fri, 17 Oct 2014 02:30:22 +0000