Be charitable, empathetic and compassionate in these crazy
troubled times. Helping others helps yourself; it creates spiritual wealth. Do
not forget to support your local charities. Gather up the canned goods that
have been sitting in the cabinets or pantry for a while and donate them to the
food bank. That will give you a chance to clean the shelves and then you can go
out and buy new stuff for yourself. The food bank will appreciate it and you
end up with a clean kitchen.
Winter is coming fast in the northern states. Disadvantaged
kids always need coats, hats, gloves, scarves, sweaters, sweatshirts and boots to fend off the frigid
winds. As a child, Keystone (Keybot the Quant algorithm and K E Stone articles, books and blogs) remembers pulling bread
wrappers over his feet before placing them in the boots because the boots
leaked. When you are poor you do what you have to do. Humorously, by the time he
arrived at school, the feet would be wet anyway from sweating in the plastic
bags or the bags would work their way down the calf, ankle and end up only covering the front of the feet that now had wet socks. Those days are distant memories now, but you never forget your roots.
In
America, sadly, many poor and disadvantaged children continue shivering in the cold and damp winter air while listening to their hunger pangs as other families enjoy lavish turkey and ham feasts in well-heated homes.
Last winter, you told yourself that your coat does not fit
well anymore, it is out of style and you need a new one, so donate it to the
local thrift store. Any winter clothing items would be appreciated. Search for
the smaller locally-operated volunteer-type thrift shops ran by the blue-haired
gal’s and silver-haired gentlemen since these little stores directly help the
people in that community and your stuff will be put to good use quickly.
The bigger chain thrift stores collect money into one big
pot and then disseminate the help from there--after some of that cash goes into corrupt
people’s pockets. The small local volunteer thrift stores offer stuff real
cheap for disadvantaged folks (so they maintain human dignity purchasing
something with their own money) but most of these local stores will outright
give people stuff if they are in desperate need. This does not happen out of
those big chain thrift stores that control inventories with fancy colored bar code labels. Who knows,
perhaps you will like the folks at that humble local thrift shop and after a few
laughs find yourself volunteering once or twice per month. Most thrift stores also
take food donations (canned goods, pasta, etc…) so you can drop off clothes and
food at one place.
You can also make things to donate such as hats and scarves.
At the local thrift store that Keystone supports and helps, a lady brought in a
bag full of crocheted winter hats for women in early December; all different
colors and styles. She is poor as a church mouse but gets by with her apartment
and food and such. She spends all year crocheting the hats and then donates
them to the local thrift stores in the region during November and December.
That is a genuine, authentic, human being.
For the exercise enthusiasts and cyclists, there are many
charities always conducting events such as walks, runs, bike runs, etc… The
Spin4 events for cyclists help the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation; that may
be of interest to you. There are always charity walks and runs in the towns and
cities near you; it is a great way to meet a bunch of like-minded people
rallying around a specific cause.
Other ways you can be charitable, even if you say that you
are too busy, is to ask your employer (HR person) about a volunteer program.
Most large companies already offer these programs to employees. The volunteer
program is typically structured where an employee will agree to volunteer, say,
12 times during the year, once per month, at a local hospital, senior center,
thrift store, etc.., and in return, the employer pays the employee as if it was
a regular day at work. Everybody wins. The employee gets out of the office or
shop once per month for something different, the place where the volunteer work
occurs (usually selected by the volunteer and approved by the company) benefits
from receiving help that day and the employer benefits from good will with
people thinking highly of the business or company since it supports and cares about
the community. These programs can be structured in lots of different ways. If
your company does not have a volunteer program, perhaps spearhead an effort or
ask the HR person if that can be put on the agenda at a company meeting to see
if folks are interested. Yes, they will be interested.
Lighten your heart and soul by helping others
and you will receive wealth beyond your wildest dreams.
