“Giving Tuesday” is a great idea and doesn’t have to cost a cent. In fact, it’s a day that can easily be spread throughout the year. Here’s how:
Everyone has one or two hours. True, we may have to steal them from a television program or that yard work that should be done. It’s okay to re-prioritize every once in awhile, though. Let those two hours make a difference. Hand out shampoo and food at fairs held for the homeless in your community. Give blood through the Red Cross or a local hospital. Work toward wiping out a disease and, meanwhile, care for the sick, by distributing contribution envelopes to neighbors for the Cancer Society or Heart Association. Serve a meal at a soup kitchen during a non-holiday season, when volunteers are scarce. Sort through those newborn items your baby outgrew before wearing them and give them to the church’s layette program. Pick up people without transportation and bring them to an appointment or grocery shopping. Use your imagination; you’ll figure out other way to help people in need. It could be called “Closed-Wallet Giving.” What it is, though, is “Open-Hearted Giving”—giving of yourself.