To all you do-gooders out there, here comes another day for you to get behind and cheer on, it’s Giving Tuesday! Created in 2012, it encourages everyone to give. Give money, time, talents. To a cause, a neighbor, a stranger. It’s celebrated each year on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving.
From my journal: May 8, 2023, Newbury Park, California
“Helped out for a few hours at the Big Brothers Big Sisters annual golf event…glad I could be there, caught up with some staff and met a few interesting people.”
As well as benefitting others, giving just feels good. Both to the giver and the receiver. According to Dr. Stephen G. Post, director of the Center of Medical Humanities, Compassionate Care and Bioethics at Stony Brook University in New York, the act of giving sends happiness chemicals to the brain leaving people with a sense of elation that is associated with calmness, peace, and tranquility.
Giving has always been a part of my life and I have my parents to thank for that. It’s not so much what they said about generosity, it was what they did. Growing up we lived in a blue-collar neighborhood where most dads worked outside the house, and most moms worked in it. My parents were no different. My dad was a carpenter and my mom stayed home to care for us in our younger years. With four children, money was tight. So, while some people gave with their purses and wallets, my parents did not. Yet, their simple gestures may have given recipients something they needed even more.
In my post “Remembering Dad” I mentioned that my father grew a vegetable garden each spring. It was a marvel to look at and provided our family with healthy produce all summer. I recall a time when my dad was tending to the plants and an unfamiliar man wandered by. Their conversation began with the man admiring my dad’s work and ended when my dad headed into our house, and invited him to take a few tomatoes. The next day when my dad went to check on his veggies, he noticed the garden had been picked clean! I’m not sure how he actually felt about what happened, but what my dad said was, “He probably needed the food more than us.”
When my younger brother was in high school, my mom began working outside of our home. She was a Teacher’s Aide, a Meter Maid, and a Daycare Helper. Another job she had for awhile was working at a laundromat, monitoring washers and dryers, and stocking supplies. She once told me about a young woman who came in with a pillowcase full of laundry. She filled a washer with her clothes and then checked her pockets. As my mom watched her, the woman began to cry realizing that she had forgotten, lost, or didn’t have enough money. My mom not only gave her a few dollars, but she bought her a cup of coffee, and on her break she sat down with the woman and listened to the her talk. When the woman’s laundry was done, she thanked my mom profusely and gave her a hug. While I don’t recall what the woman told my mom, I do remember my mom saying we all need someone to listen to us at times.
There are a myriad of ways to give. Donating money to an organization that aligns with your values is one, and volunteering is another. Giving your time, whether it be just a few hours a year or a couple of hours each week can make a world of difference. Giving blood is easy to do, as is raising awareness of a cause close to your heart via social media. Another means of giving is writing a letter of thanks. I remember writing such a note, more than twenty-five years ago. At the time I was a desktop publisher and I mentored a 4th grade girl at a local school. On my last day there her teacher, Mrs. Estes thanked me and also said I had missed my calling, that I should’ve been a teacher. This comment stuck with me and a year later when I decided to change careers it was one reason I went in that direction. When I completed my degree and I got my first teaching job in another state, I wrote to tell her. She responded saying how much she appreciated the note because often times we impact people’s lives, yet we don’t know how.
On this Giving Tuesday, I will be giving in a few ways. I will be volunteering my time with students at our local library. It feels good being able to help them with their studies. I will be donating a small monetary gift to the Big Brothers Big Sisters. It feels good to be able to contribute to a program that I’ve been a part of for almost six years. And I’ll be writing words of thanks in a pretty card to my mom. It always feels good to remind her how thankful I am that she’s my mother. This Tuesday, if you can, give a little. Chances are, it’ll do you good.
A Journal Journey 