The Charity Question: To Give or Not to Give?

             The bell-ringers, the $1 donations at the supermarkets, and the donation boxes on your way out the door of the store where you are a regular are just a few examples of encounters with a major part of the holidays. As you prepare to do your holiday shopping, or perhaps are already in the process of doing so, one question is asked over and over again: will you give? Christmas is the perfect time of year for many well-meaning organizations to ask spendthrift Americans for donations to help their cause. While charity is morally and socially accepted as a good thing to do, it is often difficult to decide which organization to give money to, if I should give money to any at all.

           It seems very hard up to decline all offers, as such past thinkers as Henry David Thoreau have suggested. He declares that some should give and some should not, according to their “genius” or calling in life. I would make no attempt to make another person give, but rather ask you if some of the money that you planned to spend on a well-to-do relative would not better benefit someone in another country who suffered from malnutrition or a homeless person on the city streets who is in need of a coat for the winter?

            If you are like me, and do not have much to give, then simply give according to what you have. My point is that even if you feel stretched thin financially, there is always someone in a far worse situation than you are who could use your help.

            If you are worried about where your money is really going, then please take the time to research some of these organizations. Many charitable organizations are non-profit and only give to people who are really in need. Don’t just write them off as a scam or a moneymaking company posing as a charity because they are asking for your hard-earned money.

           I implore you, then, to give. Give according to what you can afford, be selective in your giving, but this Christmas, please do not remain tight-fisted. Us Americans love our electronic toys and expensive clothing, but what do we buy these things at the expense of?

             Instead we should adopt the attitude that, “ Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (Holy Bible II Corinthians 9.6-7). Even if you do not believe in God, you can probably see goodness in giving freely and generously, as the result is always that you reap the benefits. If you are not a Christian the benefit is that you will feel good, but if you are a Christian then you will know that you are pleasing God!