Giving Tuesday is Around the Corner ~ November 27, 2012

Giving. It’s what this time of year is all about.

We stand in line for hours to buy the hottest items, browse the internet searching for the perfect gift, and spend our last dollars trying to buy the people we love a gift to show them how much we care because somewhere along the way saying it was no longer enough.

We are a society that it is consumed with the acquiring of things. We have to have the newest season’s fashions or the latest phone. We are always trading in, upgrading, sizing up – because we want more. We want better.

Many of us stay up all night wrapping gifts year after year. We give out of obligation or from the kindness of our hearts and most often we give to those who we are close to or interact with on a regular basis. But there is a world out there that extends beyond our close circle of family and friends, and the world is in need. The world is filled with people who are depending on the kindness of others, people who may have never met them; people who are not a part of their circle. People like you and me.

Most of you are familiar with Black Friday and Cyber Monday. They are two of the days in which we spend large amounts of money in our quest to obtain more stuff, some for us to keep or give away as gifts to friends and family. Imagine if we extended our giving to reach people beyond our immediate circle. What if we added something to our shopping cart for someone we didn’t know or passed on one sale and took the money we saved and donated it to a charitable organization?

This year on Tuesday November 27, 2012 we are encouraged to give.

It is a day referred to as “Giving Tuesday” and it is an opportunity to make a difference in someone’s life. Whether it be by donating money, preparing a healthy meal for someone who would otherwise go without, donating clothes or toiletries to a shelter or charity, spending time volunteering, or starting a fundraiser, there are numerous things that you can do allowing you to give from your heart and make someone else’s life better in some way.

The wonderful thing about making a difference is that anyone can do it. Your age, socioeconomic status, cultural, religious or political beliefs no longer really matter. What matters is that you have a desire to do something — something to make someone else’s life better simply because you care enough to give from your own heart. And in the end your life will be better too.

Join countless charities, business, families and individuals and give this coming Tuesday. No act of kindness is too small. For more ideas on what you can do visit GivingTuesday.org.