Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Upsides to the Down Economy/ Spread the Wealth


Last year I donated a hundred dollars to a charity in the Miami Herald- Wish Book. Each day there is a story about a person or family that needs a donation. This year I donated, but instead of $100 to one charity, I donated $10 to 10 charities. This was inspired by hearing about a politician who got elected in a grass roots effort, with mostly small donations. I decided to spread the wealth around a little bit. I collected donation envelopes from charities I wanted to give to in the last month or so. I ended up giving to FIU (alma mater), the Tropical Audubon Society, the USO, Habitat for Humanity, Fairchild Tropical Garden, as well as the Herald Wish Book again. I had given to Adopt a Classroom, Water.org and St. Jude's in earlier months. Some of the charities were local, some national. All were causes I care about. I meant to do it before Christmas, but just sent the bulk of them out today. As an added bonus, I get a tax deduction. Next year, I'm going to try and keep a running list of charities I want to donate to so I'm not scrambling around at the last minute. But whether you do one bigger check, or several smaller ones- Donate! It does a body good.

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