Last Minute Holiday Giving – Round it up

The joy of giving. Tis the Season.

The size of your charitable gift isn’t as important as the very act of giving itself. It involves you giving and helping. There is a saying, “Give out of your own need.” Also “To whom much is given – much will be required” Both are important humanitarian ways of thinking.

“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.” ? Charles Dickens.

When you see little kids going up to Santa Clause, or Salvation Army employees who are collecting for charitable means, that signifies a whole different type of humanitarian giving. That is generational giving. When you teach children to give at a young age you teach lifelong giving behavior, compassion, and a sense of community.

Children have the concept of roundup giving, down to a science. These are simple skills learned in their primary years.

A lesson from a third grader

How many stores will you visit this year? How many stores in-a-day? Why not round up the total of your purchases and put the remainder into a donation jar?

Here is a simple example:

What if you shopped 3 stores a day, and you had .40, 60, and .25 cents left to round up to an even dollar amount. If you shopped 3 stores every day for 365 days a year, your giving based on the above numbers would be.

.40 + .60 + .25 = $1.25 a day

$1.25 X 365 days = $456.25 a year!

Even if you only gave .25 cents a day, that is $91.00 a year!

As adults, we understand that the simple things in life matter the most. Providing clean water, food, and aid, to those in need, to name a view. Collaborating with like-minded businesses, individuals, churches, and organizations, one person at a time to make a difference – has a rippling effect. Churches hoping to use their platform as a pillar of the community may want to implement an online giving platform like Tithe.ly to collect donations from the congregation in order to put it towards their charitable causes. Rounding it up is just another way to give. Children are our greatest example of this type of giving. We need to be the example for them!

We need to be the example for them!

As always there are many charities that could use your donations this year.

• American Red Cross
• Salvation Army
• LDS Church strives to #LightTheWorld with Giving Machines that support local and global charities
• Operation Christmas Child
• Doctors without Borders
• Christmas Box International
• Find your local food bank
• “Rage Giving”: How to Find a Charity that Turns Your Rage into Action
• Wheels for Wishes
• United Way
• Ronald McDonald House Charities
• Lifting Hands International
• Habitat for Humanity
• Catholic Community Services
• Angel Tree Charity
• Toys for Tots
• Make a Wish Foundation
• Lion’s Club
• Angel Tree Christmas – Prison Fellowship
• The Family Giving Tree
• Help Children Get Free Toys – Donate to Angel Tree
• Holiday Assistance with Bills
• United Methodist
• So many more