Earlier this week, I decided to make a donation to an organization in honor of an accomplishment in someone else’s life. What I didn’t expect when I made that donation online was that I would still be feeling so good about it days later. I found that I was walking around with extra spring in my step, and it made my heart feel good. It was so uplifting that it made me want to give more.
I have always been good about supporting charities that are close to my heart. I do my best to support my friends when they do walks or bike rides for charity. I also donate money when there is a natural disaster or whenever else I hear of a need. I may not always donate as much as I would like to, but I donate what I can at that time. I believe that my small donation can make a huge difference when combined with all of the other donations the organization receives.
While I always feel good about it when I make a donation, this is the first time that the feeling has lasted this long. I think the difference here is that the donation was made in honor of a wonderful achievement in someone else’s life. Through this donation, I was able to celebrate that accomplishment, and also do some good by supporting an organization that both the recipient and I believe is doing wonderful work. I also was able to surprise the recipient because he had no idea that I was so moved by his accomplishment, and didn’t know that I would acknowledge it. Making a donation to celebrate an accomplishment or event in someone’s life is a fantastic way to honor someone who doesn’t really need or want anything.
Donating your time can be even more rewarding than donating money. One of the most amazing experiences of my life was volunteering for Habitat for Humanity, which I have done twice. My experience with tools prior to volunteering for Habitat for Humanity was hanging pictures, and making minor repairs around the house. But on the Habitat for Humanity build site, I was framing windows and doors. It was hard work, but I left there feeling so fufilled and uplifted.
Both times I volunteered at Habitat for Humanity build sites, I worked along side people who would one day own a Habitat for Humanity home. For those of you who aren’t familiar with with Habitat for Humanity, families who are going to purchase the homes must volunteer several hundred hours of “sweat equity” into building their home or working on other Habitat for Humanity projects. I worked with four people who would be living in Habitat for Humanity homes. They were all hard working, and extremely grateful for the opportunity to purchase a home. They were also grateful to the volunteers who came out to help make their dream of owning a home a reality.
I think the main reason I found volunteering for Habitat for Humanity so rewarding is the thought that I played a small part in something that was a major life changer for the families who would be purchasing the houses. With most volunteer opportunities, your work only helps the recipients in the short term, but when you volunteer for Habitat for Humanity you are helping to change the lives of a family long term. The families who wind up living in these houses no longer have to worry about whether or not they will have a roof over their head, or if they can afford to pay the rent from month to month. I often wonder about the two families who now live in the houses I helped build (the first is a three generation family of six, mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, and two little girls, and the second is a single mom with two children, including a handicapped teenage boy). I hope that owning their own home has been as good for their hearts as helping to build it was for my heart.
So, while it is said that charity begins at home, I think it really begins in your heart. Support the causes that are close to your heart. Take advantage of volunteer opportunities that interest you. Giving does amazing things to your heart.
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