As I'm sure a few of us did, I had a pretty rough night Thursday night. I went downtown with some friends, drank far too much, spent a ton of money, lost my license as well as my cell phone and woke up on my friends floor in his apartment with a busted hand and ankle. Yes, I know, this was my fault. If I'm old enough to drink, I should be old enough to do it responsibly. The truth is that I used to do things like this all the time, but as I have grown older, I have grown to be more mature and I really hardly ever do this anymore. Anyways, my drinking isn't what this blog is about, it just kind of sets up what has been on my mind in the past couple of days, and might explain what set it off.
Friday morning before class, I went to Randall to print off a couple of handouts for my class at noon. After I printed them off, I had some time to kill so I decided to make a purchase off of a website I spend a lot of time on every day. Upon completing my purchase, I thought about how much money I had spent on buying everyone drinks the night before and I wondered why I couldn't put my money towards something more deserving. Then it happened. Apparently I had spent enough money on the website to get a "free gift." Among the options for the gift were a couple of charities that I could donate the money that the free gift was worth to. I decided to donate to pediatric heart research. It felt amazing. I know it wasn't much, but I also know that my money will do more good there than it will going towards me making horrible decisions after getting hammered.
I don't know why I haven't donated more before now. To an extent, I feel selfish because I feel like the reason I am donating money has more to do with me feeling better about myself than it does with the cause of the charity itself. Regardless, they are receiving help from me and I feel good about my actions. Call it selfish, but it is reality. So after thinking on it for a while, I decided to donate to another cause. This cause spurred from the same website, in a forum that I post on. Although this forum is primarily for entertainment, there are a few times when someone posts for a good cause. I just happened to come across one of these posts.
The sad part about it is that I initially thought it was a scam, and clicked on the thread link to watch the posters investigate and uncover the original poster of the thread. This is because the thread subject reads "Donate 25$ to these children, get a 25$ gift certificate." After looking into it some more, I discovered that it is completely legit. Here is some of what the poster said...
"I spent my time volunteering for an orphanage this past summer in a small town in Ecuador. There are currently 56 kids living in a building with metal sheets as roofing, and boards as walls. The kids have come from broken homes, completely abandoned by their family. Some come from deep within the Amazon jungle. Many of the kids have special needs, and many are victims of extreme abuse.
Yet all of these kids are loving and kind, and in need of help. Currently, La Casa de Fe is working on a new building to move the children into. The next step is a school.
In 2007, there were 10 children at La Casa de Fe. Now there are over 50. The organization has a dire need for financial support in order to supply food, clothes, and basic necessities to the children. Money is also needed to support the construction project, and furnish the new building.
I will give you a gift certificate for restaurant.com that closest matches the amount of your donation. There are only 25, 50, 75, and 100 dollar gift certificates available for thousands of restaurants. Sorry for this, but ALL donations are very welcomed. If you want a gift certificate, please post a picture of your donation."
And here is the donation link...
http://www.cornerstoneinternational.org/staff-arnold/
It is incredible how kind and caring some people are. I did receive a gift certificate for my donation, but I plan on printing out the certificate for a popular place and giving it to someone that needs it more than I do. Hopefully this spirit of giving that has come to me in the past couple of days will stick around for a while. It feels good to help other people that truly need it, and I'm sure that they are appreciative as well.
This is awesome. I have become a giver this year actually. I tithe (give 10% of my money) to the church I attend, and I love to give whenever I can. It really is good for us as human beings. Today I gave shoes to a family for a little girl that doesn't have much. I have many little girls clothes that I don't need, and I began calling around to see who could use them. Think about this--maybe next time you are already going out to eat, go to the place that the gift certificate is for and take a friend who could use a meal, and then tip your server a 20 dollar bill sonce you didn't pay for the meal. It is the best feeling. I was at Golden Corral, and I was in my usual optimistic mood. My server seemed refreshed. Her frown turned into laughter and she thanked us for brightening her day. Before we left, we handed her a 20 for a tip. She was floored. I am sure her day was turned around. I know mine was, too. Keep up that giving spirit!!! I am proud of you.
ReplyDeleteI know I lose perspecitve at times about what I have and how I can help others. I used to be more involved with volunteer work and I truly miss it. It is great to donate and help other and organizations financially. It's also awesome if you can't give in that sense to go and volunteer your time. I think going out and helping other is like pushing a reset button on your own reality. It helps put everything back into perspective.
ReplyDeleteThat is so great that you have decided to donate more now. I like how you set up this story because it explains how a bad decision turned into something good. I do not donate enough but I do think I spend my money pretty wisely. I feel the same guilt about tithing in church because sometimes I think I do it just so I don't look bad in front of other members. It's easy to give, but the giving out of the goodness of your heart part is sometimes difficult to do.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny how people (including me) end up doing great things after making a couple of mistakes. I donate to various charities, especially those that my church back at home inform us about.
ReplyDeleteDonating is something that many people overlook and now is a time where help is really needed!
I think it is really great that you are in the spirit of giving. Furthermore, it is a good thing that it made you realize not to make bad decisions anymore, like drinking too much. I also enjoy helping others. I donate a lot of the time when making a purchase, for example to the Breast Cancer Foundation, or the Make A Wish Foundation. It is a great feeling to donate, and help others.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this blog. I have always been a sucker for giving. Anytime I pass by someone who is asking for a donation, I have to give money to them if I have any on me. I know it seems ridiculous but I can't help it. I know I have had a very blessed life and I just feel that I should give back. It truly is a great feeling to know that you're helping someone out. Lately I've been thinking about getting involved in community services or other charities and this blog is definitely a motivator for me to get on it!
ReplyDeleteaww this is awesome! What a good deed you are doing (: I do also go downtown and get entirely too drunk and wonder where all my money goes...it is horrible! I am that person that just buys drinks for everyone because I love being nice and I love when everyone else is having fun! So I feel your pain there haha. I am going to look into donating now though, sounds like such a good idea! (:
ReplyDeleteI did not expect to be reading about a charity after the first few sentences! I think that it's awesome you donated to that cause. As college students many of us can relate to the tendency to spend way too much downtown. It would be amazing if we spent the same amount on charities.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post! It was really nice of you to perform such a selfless act and help someone who was in need! You brought up a very true and also sad point when you said you wondered at first if the place you donated to was a scam. It is unfortunate that we have to worry about whether or not the money or whatever it may be that we are donating to charities and non-profits are legit! When people make monetary donations or donate items, we want the donations to make it to the people who need it! Sometimes that can be hard to tell, specifically on the internet, but overall I think it is great what you did!
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