12.17.2010

Paying It Forward

I usually read The Bloggess because she's funny, but today she inspired me.

It shouldn't have been The Bloggess who inspired me, but it was. I should have remembered about the Christmas soup and the kindness of strangers and taken care of "giving back" earlier, but I was so busy trying to wrap my head around my own problems that I didn't think about anyone else's.

Today, that changes.

We've been really lucky this year, all things considered. My husband was out of work for almost a year and a half, but he started a new job in September. Some people we know were laid off at the same time he was, or even before, and are still looking. Even while he wasn't working, we were fine. Maybe not as comfortable as we would have liked to be, but he was able to collect unemployment and we were careful about his severance and very good about saving our tax refund, plus I still have my job, so we were fine. We made do without a lot of stuff we probably didn't need anyway, but all of our basic needs and even most of our wants were satisfied.

We have our house, we have our cars, we have our iPhones and HD TV and World of Warcraft and Chinese take-out a couple of times a month. We have our health, we still a little bit left in the bank, and we have each other. We've got more going for us than probably 99.99% of the world, and probably more than 90% of the people we know.

I know that we are among the lucky ones. Boy, do I know it.

So as of right now -- and like I said, I really should have done this earlier, but what's done is done -- I've decided that I'm spending part of this weekend giving back. I still have some shopping to do, and while I am shopping for the people in my life who will be receiving treats on Christmas, I will also be setting aside something for those people who might not have anything at all otherwise.

On Monday morning, I will be making a $50 donation to Second Harvest Food Bank of Lehigh Valley & Northeast Pennsylvania. And you can help increase that amount: for every person who comments on this post between now and Sunday 12/19/10 at midnight ET, I will be making an additional donation of $2, up to an additional $50, for a maximum contribution of up to $100. So tell your friends to drop by, leave their names, tell me I'm a talentless hack, whatever -- as long as they leave a comment.

Every dollar buys 7 meals for people who need them. Together we can provide breakfast and lunch for almost a full year to someone in need. Let's do it. Let's pay it forward.



(Disclaimers: SHFBLV did not solicit this contribution in any way. The base donation and any additional donations per comment are purely voluntary on my part. Commenters do not need to leave full name, rank, and serial number, but entirely anonymous comments will not be accepted, and spam will not be counted. Calling me a bleeding-heart liberal or a hysterical liberal moonbat is entirely unnecessary because I already know that. If you have any questions, please contact me at the email address in the sidebar.)

14 comments:

  1. I think that is excellent, what you are doing. We often donate to local nonprofits (besides the one I work for) for Christmas gifts...I usually do a local animal rescue/foster/adoption place in honor of the various pets in my family.

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  2. nice one. i'll pass it along. and i'll match the posts, too, only i'm going to give to the local food bank out here, if that's not against the rules ;-)

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  3. absolutely NOT against the rules. my blog, my rules. do it!

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  4. i dont know where my comments go but good job i'll give a check also love mom

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  5. your comments go here. you're not "anonymous" today. thanks, mom.

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  6. I don't have much to give, but many things to be thankful for. On behalf of my daughter I will give you $25 to add to your donation. Thanks Rachel! What an awesome Christmas idea!

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  7. you guys are awesome, seriously. thanks so much.

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  8. You are awesome. Seriously. <3 We'll be making another donation to the food bank when we do our grocery shopping this weekend.

    xoxo

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  9. `~`POST`~` Great Job, Rachel! It's not that often that people take the time to reflect & be thankful for what they have & then on top of it give to others. Thanks for what you are doing! Merry CHRISTmas!

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  10. Great idea! And also reminds me that I've got a bag of things to take to the food bank this weekend. :)

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  11. Great post Rachel! Very inspiring~ Merry Christmas!

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  12. I'm in! I also pledge to put another few bags in the foodbank bin when I go to the store this weekend. We love to do this and also adopt a family. I think our families this year will be happy, and it really does give the season a great meaning. Merry Christmas to one of my favorite bloggers =)
    ~christine

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  13. What a great person! I will add extra items in our food bank bin at church this weekend as well! Thanks for inspiring.

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  14. Comment that I am carrying over from my sister's link to this post on Facebook: "Thanks for sharing, Jaime. This was inspiring. I will also be making a donation to our local food pantry this holiday. Hope to see [you guys] on Christmas! :-)"

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