The “holiday season” – Thanksgiving, Hanukah, Christmas – is often called “the season of giving.” Not just because it’s the prime time of year when we give each other gifts, but because “at this festive season,” as the man says in Dickens’s book, many of us give extra to those in need, or to the agencies that help those in need.
*But THIS time is ALSO a season for giving, and maybe the need is even greater now. Many charities and agencies find that once the holiday season is past, giving drops off. But the needs go on. We need to remember that, and we need to also give at THIS time.
*Who to? Well, this month Joyce and I made an extra gift to the Food Bank of the Southern Tier… the more so because, as we understand it, some people in need were being fouled up by the government shutdown. Whether that’s the case or not, the need is still great, so we gave some extra.
*Have you thought about giving to the S.P.C.A.? The small animals are very, very cold, and some will die. But more can be saved, and those already in our local no-kill shelters can be cared for. What’s better than that?
*Give blood. Blood donations dry up dramatically at this time of year… people are busy, people are sick. But accidents go up, and so does demand. Your gift can literally save someone’s life. And it doesn’t even hurt to speak of.
*I gave two gallons of blood before I became medically contraindicated. But from the time they were babies, we always took our sons with us to the blood bank. And from the time they became eligible, they started giving blood themselves, making me very, very proud. And, no doubt, saving many people from losing their loved ones before their time.
*If you are part of a church, synagogue, or other fellowship, then your congregation or denomination may well have vehicles for giving to those in need, such as Mennonite Disaster Service, the multi-denominational One Great Hour of Sharing, Catholic Charities, Catholic Relief Services, Jewish Charities, United Methodist Committee on Relief, Episcopal Relief & Development, and many, many more.
*Whatever your take on the politics of the situation, I would think that we all must be appalled by the horror of children being taken from their parents at the border (sometimes by stealth) and locked up in cages in buildings with the windows painted over, so that the children cannot see the sun. Regardless of what any of us think about policy, surely we can all agree that these children, now in OUR custody, are in dire need. You can give to help them through actblue.com. This site is best known as a clearing house for donations to support the campaigns of Democratic candidates, but they have systems in place where you can give to help the children, and none of it goes to candidates or campaigns, or even to actblue.
*Many churches or communities have local clothing closets, where you can give clothes in good condition to help people keep warm. My wife Joyce over time has knitted scores of mittens for Head Start children in Bath, and dozens of caps for newborns at Corning Hospital. In some cases, this may be the only hand-made item the child ever has. But even if that’s not the case, it’s still a great thing to do. What finer act could there be than keeping little children warm?