My mother grumbles that she's on everyone's mailing list for charitable
donations. She says she can't possibly give to every organization that
sends her free greeting cards or stickers, but she tries, divvying up
the individual gifts into smaller and smaller amounts each year because
of the increasing onslaught.
Marie Martin is also a WWII
Veteran who is justifiably proud of the #2610 Royal Canadian Army
Cadet Corps Sponsored by Courcelette Br.#058 Sheet Harbour, N.S.
Read her article!
To all intents and purposes it's junk mail, but we don't see it that
way. Like buying insurance, giving to charities is a part of our social
fabric that we don't question. We accept responsibility when the seasonal
outreach for donations tugs at our hearts and our pursestrings.
We give to the charities that we most believe in, for their mission
or purpose, or because they represent an illness that has taken the life
of a loved one. We give to immortalize ourselves on some tangible object
like a patio
brick or cornerstone, or a marker
on a trail somewhere in the hinterlands. We give to insure our path
to the hereafter.
We give because it makes us feel better about having enough to eat, a
warm, safe home and no disabilities or life-threatening diseases. We give
because we have more than others. We give because it's the human thing
to do.
When my mother shops, she looks for "Made in Nova Scotia" labels
on the products she buys. She purchases as much as she can from the local
corner store, even if the nearest Atlantic Superstore sells cheaper and
has wider variety. While she's not a 'raging
granny', at 78 she organizes a group each year for the Adopt
A Highway program and spends every second Friday volunteering at the
local hospital. She gives quietly and with the same rationale she takes
shopping. From her point of view, charity begins at home.
Here, for my mother and for anyone else who believes that giving closer
to home is a better way, is a list of lesser known local charities. These
smaller budget non-profits could use just a few of the dollars generated
by the large automated donation solicitation systems. No money? Not to
worry. If you can't give tangibles, give of yourself. There is no greater
gift.
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Nuggets
"The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The
second best time is now". Chinese Proverb Trail Stop Tree
Seedlings
"There is something infinitely healing in the repeated
refrains
of nature - the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring
after the winter." Rachel Carson
Where
on Earth is
