Anpetu Luta Otipi
(living in a red day)
Charity – in fact, altruism in general – is a very difficult concept to explain in a general sense. What I’ve found often is that you either have an innate understanding of why you give or you don’t, and introducing the idea to someone who doesn’t see the benefit is likely to get a shrug of indifference. The best I can do is explain in detail why I give to various causes.
First of all, charitable donations are a direct reflection of my values and perspectives. Whenever I donate money, I’m contributing it towards something that I feel has importance. If I want to see food available to homeless people in my community, I can donate to the local food pantry or soup kitchen. If I want to fight global warming, there are plenty of organizations that are fighting for such change. The real question is whether you have found something with enough importance to you to speak out with your pocketbook.
Second, helping others improves your self worth in many ways. Once you’ve given something to a charity that you truly believe in, you feel good about it. The money in your pocket went towards a cause beyond what you can manage in your daily life; a cause that combined with the similar actions of others can actually bring about change in the world. That’s not something you can get from buying yourself a flat panel television.
One final comment: I don’t think, like many do, that whether or not you tithe or give to charity is a sign of whether you’re a good person or not. I know some very wonderful people who don’t give to charities and I also know some people who give to charities that I wouldn’t trust my child around. A person should only give to a charity if they truly feel it is the right thing to do with their money – if it doesn’t feel right, don’t donate.
In short, even if you don’t donate any of your income to charity right now or you don’t see the purpose, don’t close your mind or your heart to the idea. When the right reason comes to you, open up your wallet and see what happens.
Sponsor Basket
Sponsors can choose a small family (1-4 persons) or a large family (5-8 persons or more) and will receive basic information about the family. Large families will receive two baskets.
These baskets will incorporate perishable as well as non-perishable food for the family’s Christmas dinner and a gift card so that the family buy perishable food to enjoy a meal according to their individual taste; the gift card should be from a merchant such as Target or Wal-Mart so that the family may purchase both perishable food and gift items for their families.
I’ll take twenty dollars ($20.00), with twenty dollars I can buy a turkey and a toy and I’d be willing to make up the difference myself.
______________________________________
The United States celebrates its “land of plenty” yet lawmakers slashed $5 billion from the nation’s largest hunger safety net and are now aimed at trimming the US budget deficit and are contemplating more cuts to food stamps for the poor — formally the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — an initiative that helps feed almost 48 million, or one in seven Americans.
Determined to reduce the government’s huge debt and chronic deficits, Democrats and Republicans in Congress are now haggling over more cuts to food stamp benefits, ranging from $5 billion to $40 billion over 10 years.
The nationwide network of 200 food banks says the number of low-income people it feeds annually grew 46 percent from 2006 to now, from 25 million people to 37 million.
In Washington, the hub of one of the nation’s wealthiest regions, legions of the homeless line up daily in front of charity-run food trucks.
Soup kitchens and food pantries are racing to meet demand from the growing numbers of those suffering from “food insecurity” — the term used by the US Department of Agriculture that runs the SNAP program.
“For the people at the lower end of the socio-economic spectrum, the recession’s not over,” food stamp cuts affect people already struggling to pay rent, medical bills and transportation costs.
In today’s economy, the discretionary spending of corporations is significantly reduced but it is still vital to the advancement of society and non-profit organizations.
We at the AIEBC reach in and outside our community and offer help at Christmas time especially since all the cuts that the government has made impacts the largest majority, if not ALL of the poor. We can count on one hand those corporations and Individuals in Kansas City that have responded to our call for help or reached out to assist us so we know its becoming more and more difficult in todays economy for companies to offer assistance, please know your donations go directly into the program you donated it to, We do not get paid and our staff and assistants are here strictly on a voluntary basis.
In the very near future we will be reaching out through a writing campaign to the Board of Directors for all of the major corporations to see if we are missing a step in the process of asking and obtaining assistance for such a worthy cause and program.
_____________________________________
GUIDELINES FOR MAKING YOUR FAMILY CHRISTMAS BASKET (S):
Your basket will incorporate both perishable & non-perishable foods and a gift card so that the family can prepare a Christmas dinner. These perishable & non-perishable foods for the Christmas dinner include the following items:
1 Med. To Lg. Frozen Turkey
The suggested amount for the gift card to help the family purchase additional items is $50.00 per basket.