At Christmas time, which is also the end of most people’s tax year, many people turn their thoughts to giving… not just gifts to loved ones, but gifts to the community at large.
*If you have a church connection, a Christmas gift to the church might be fitting, or a gift to some church-connected helping agency, such as Catholic Charities, Mennonite Disaster Service, or United Methodist Committee on Relief.
*The Southern Tier Food Bank does outstanding work in helping provide for the hungry right here where we live. I give throughout the year. Milly’s Pantry in Penn Yan also does a tremendous job.
*Kiva Microfunds (or Kiva.org) provides a way to support microloans to emerging entrepreneurs around the world. About 80% of these loans go to women (and about 98% are repaid). Loans to women are one of the most effective ways to change lives and change communities, and we took steps a year or two back to do so through Kiva.
*I gave two gallons of blood before Addison’s Disease disqualified me at the age of 54. But right from the time they were infants we took our sons with us to the blood bank, and they both started giving as soon as they turned 18. BLOOD DONATIONS SAVE LIVES. What could you do that’s better than that? And at this time of year the need is especially great. Donors get over-busy, or catch a cold or flu, while snow and ice and sheer volume of traffic make for more road accidents, pushing demand up just when supply goes down. “At this festive season,” blood is needed even more. Check with the Red Cross. (Did you know that Clara Barton formed the first American Red Cross chapter in Dansville? Giving blood celebrates our local history!)
*When it’s cold, little animals die. The Finger Lakes SPCA in Bath, Chemung County SPCA near Elmira, and sister chapters all around bring them in, make them warm, and let them live. They could use your help.
*With the new administration in Washington, official assaults on the environment have risen. I have a long-standing membership with the National Audubon Society. Consider joining Audubon or one of the other big organizations fighting for our earth and our future: Sierra Club, Nature Conservancy, Earthwatch, and more.
*Hate groups are celebrating Christmas by ramping up their activities. Think about supporting the Southern Poverty Law Center, NAACP, American Civil Liberties Union, Anti-Defamation League, or another nationwide group fighting against bigotry.
*Imagine what it would be like being hospitalized over this season, or having hospitalized loved ones. Such services as Fisher House and Ronald McDonald House stay on the job, and always have too much job to do. Gifts help.
*Charles Dickens, who knew grinding childhood poverty first-hand, wrote, “At this festive season of the year, Mr. Scrooge, it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the Poor and Destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time.  Many thousands are in want of common necessaries; hundreds of thousands are in want of common comforts, sir.” Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, remembering his life in a concentration camp, wrote, “When you’re cold, don’t expect sympathy from someone who’s warm.” We can all do better than that. Christmas isn’t the only time we give. But we rarely find a better reminder.
*(This blog first appeared in last year’s Christmas season, and has been lightly edited.)