So, I was driving the other day and I happened to see a homeless guy. For some reason, I read his sign and my brain processed, "Hottie-less". And I'm thinking, 'Is this guy imitating a homeless guy to try and get a date?' I know that is not what his sign said, but the thought of someone doing that to find a date actually did make me laugh. However, before I got home I saw at least 3 more homeless people holding up signs. I am one person, and can only do so much. Right now, I'm only NOT homeless because of the charity of family. I do not have money for all my groceries, insurance, car payments, cell phone, let alone rent too. I feel for these people. And while I am better off, it's not from any personal wealth I can give. I didn't do anything- truth is, I don't usually. I have never had a full time job, though some of my part-time jobs have been more demanding than others, and I'm in the process of making myself more marketable so hopefully I can get a good-paying full-time job. But I do go home thinking about the homeless, the less-fortunate, the sick, the poor, and several others. How do you decide how much you can give and which ones to give to?
Since being on facebook I have been bombarded with causes: Breast Cancer Awareness (the whole status message thing I usually do- it doesn't cost any money and only takes a brief amount of my time), but then I also get causes like stop abuse of children, stop internet porn, stop this or stop that... many of which I believe in. I don't think child abuse is right, I don't like porn's influence, and many other things. And then there's all the diseases, leukemia, diabetes, those who are disabled.... I doubt I've been invited to all the causes and charities out there, and I've probably gotten over 100 invites to different ones. I think I've mentioned not being well off, but there are those who are worse than me, but there is no way that I can donate to every cause, no matter how noble they are. So how do I choose?
Well, first off, my Church has a great Humanitarian Aid Program- 100% of the proceeds go to helping those less fortunate and helping out with natural disasters. They were the first on the scene after Katrina, they are there with every major natural disaster and I would say all of the minor ones where people need help. People volunteer their time out of the goodness of their hearts. Donating time where maybe they don't have money, to donate to a noble cause of helping those in need. Items and materials are donated. I donate to that when I can. Sometimes it is only a few cents at a time (sporadic babysitting doesn't always bring in much money) but I know that every cent goes to the cause I believe in and reaches out to people that I can't travel to, to help.
Then there's the Red Cross. Sometimes they are helping where my Church's Humanitarian Aid is also helping. They have some overhead costs, but 95% of your money goes to the cause you are supporting, the other 5% enables the fund to continue, so still worth it.
Then there are countless others. My Mom donates to a Research Fund on Diabetes- my brother was diagnosed with it when he was 4 1/2 and it is a personal cause for us. But I don't invite others to support it too, because they aren't affected by it the way my family has been. It doesn't mean the same thing. There are times when all the secondary causes are worth investing in, but if our funds are low we always have a portion of our time. Sometimes it seems like we don't have any time, but we can always make a little time, or donate old clothes to Goodwill or a similar charity, there is always some small service we can do for those around us, no matter how bad off we may feel we are.
Other Articles and Links:
Children help Children Through Humanitarian Aid Donations
What You Can Do
Our Values (a video on the Latter-day Saints' Humanitarian Aid Program)
Humanitarian Aid Patterns- patterns for projects and crafts you can do to help those in need
Latter-Day Saints Charities- specific causes where 100% of your money goes to the specific cause, the general fund is the Humanitarian Aid Fund, where proceeds go where needed- to natural disasters or any other humanitarian effort, but it ALL goes to helping those less fortunate
I have seen the benefit of the Church's programs. I have an Uncle who is a dentist and goes to South America providing dental work to those who need it. It's a small group- called Ayuda, and I was privileged to get to go with them when they went to a small town called La Abundancia in the Chaco region of Paraguay. The Church had notified my Uncle of these people, how they have had to move from their original lands because of a river changing and tribes fighting over the new geography of the land. The Church had already bought them the land where they were when I went, and built them a Church (they all happened to be members of the same Church) and a school. Their houses were very small and they were so poor. Over half of their children die when they switch from drinking their mother's milk to drinking the water in the town- because the water isn't that great. The next thing the Church was planning on doing was building a water tower, to keep the water clean from the elements and a purifying system. They had little food, yet there were times when they offered us food. Sometimes taking a roll they had saved would be taking their meal, possibly their only meal of the day.
Anyways, being among them, they served us- with smiles, with stories and testimonies of surviving trials and hardships and being willing to share the little they had with us. No matter what our situation, we always have something to give, whether it is our time or our money, or just a smile, or a story/testimony of merely surviving trials and hardships, sometimes we do more than survive, but there is always something to share, something we can give to uplift or brighten someone else's day. I try to remember to look for opportunities to serve, even when it is not as big as donating money to various causes and charities, small things matter too.
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