I wrote about Giving Tuesday last year and this year I do it again. For those who wonder at the idea of a Giving Tuesday or Giving Wedensday, rest easy knowing that Giving Whenever is usually a good time indeed.
Pick your favorite person or charity, show them some love. The truism that you cannot help others without helping yourself is true for a reason. You can make a difference in the world — even small efforts count, as another truism goes — and you will feel much better after, guaranteed.
Invariably I prefer small organizations — not the Red Crosses and United Ways of the world -– but those where a dollar goes further. Places where you can shake hands with founders and join those toiling on the ground, some times literally, as the folks of the Urban Paradise Guild who plant native trees in South Florida and try to reclaim land from an ever encroaching urbanity.
Other times I’ve found myself on a beach, with someone like surfer Maui Goodbeer who vowed after his 16-year-old brother was killed in gang violence in Southern California that his brother’s death would mean something and took to teaching at-risk youth how to surf, letting the majesty of the ocean speak of other doorways beyond darkened streets. More on Maui and Streetwaves here: Meet Maui Goodbeer.
My friend Hemley Gonzalez, tired of Miami real estate, volunteered with Mother Teresa’s Mission of Charities in Calcutta, India, only to find disillusion, disappointment, and worse, all fuel which gave birth to Responsible Charity, a humanistic organization trying to improve the lives of people living in the slums of Calcutta. See my former write-ups on Hemley and Responsible Charity here and over here.
One of my favorite nonprofits looks beyond Earth, well beyond Earth. SETI (the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) works tirelessly trying to answer the question, “are we alone?” Find me on the SETI at HOME site here: Carl Kruse SETI Profile . I have also written about SETI in this blog post and this other blog post.
Whatever stirs your heart, give it some love.
Happy Giving Tuesday.
Carl Kruse
Carl, have you checked out Treemendous in Miami? Planting trees throughout the city.
Love, love Treemendous!
Carl Kruse