So, What Exactly Do You Think You're Doing?

Since I made this, my personal challenge, public I have received very positive and encouraging feedback from my friends and family. And questions. The most often asked question is, what kind of charitable acts are you going to do?

My short answer is, "Somewhere above holding the door for the guy behind me and somewhere below sponsoring a wing at the hospital!". But it did make me think that I should establish some basic criteria for myself. And to let others know exactly what I am trying to accomplish.  

1. The charitable act must not benefit me monetarily or in merchandise. Now this may seem obvious, but since I entered this mindset I see charitable requests everywhere I go. And many of them offer something in return for your giving. At a donation center they offer tax receipts. I saw a canned food donation box that offered a coupon to the store sponsoring the event in return for your pasta sauce drop-off. Or maybe there is a free gift offer or a percentage goes to charity but you are left with an item in your possession. This is a perfectly acceptable and proven way to stimulate donations and fundraising. However, for my personal challenge, I do not want to acquire. On the other hand I don't want to limit my options. So, if I do choose a charitable act that makes such an offer, I will gladly accept it and then pass that bonus off to another charity or person in need.
2. The charitable act must be more than the minimum I have done. As I wrote in my first post, I know what my comfort level of giving has been - I do volunteer for events, I do make donations of food and toys at the holidays at convenient drop off points, leave a few dollars in the buckets outside the grocery store over the year, attend fundraisers or enter charity raffles for the price of the ticket. For this project I will challenge myself to do more than my comfort level, giving of time and talent and effort above what might be convenient.
3. The charitable act must be counted from the start to end time as one act. I was asked this specific question and put a lot of thought into the answer. I may donate or volunteer to the same cause more than once during the year. I also have a goal to join a planning committee for an event during the year. So, for example, each Red Cross blood drive I attend would count as one act towards the 45 for the year. A committee that meets multiple times and culminates in an event would be considered as one act towards the 45 for the year.

That's it. Three criteria. No reason to make it complicated or hard to do, that's opposite of the point!

I have already begun choosing some events and I am sponsoring one myself for Operation Write Home, which provides hand made cards for the troops to send to their families. Please see my new Charitable Events Calendar page. This page will be updated as events are planned! And a Pinterest page is coming soon!

45. Forty Five. Forty-five. Forty-five.

45. Forty Five. Forty-five. Forty-five. No matter how I write it, it doesn't get to be any smaller a number. It's not old, not young, just middle-aged. And I will be that number in 67 days. What have I done in the last 45 years? What have I accomplished that really mattered and changed someone else's world for the better?

I have raised two daughters who want to make the world a better place. I am not the perfect parent but my girls are good kids responsible young ladies who have an excellent moral compass (and a better one than I had at their age). I have overcome challenges in my life and I hope I have been an example for them of how to do the same. And they know how to clean a bathroom, which has improved my daughter's first year in a college dorm. And her roommate's.

But what have I done to reach out my hand and help someone else out of their challenging situation? I have participated in fundraisers, from time and talents to monetary donations to walking a route for diseases. I have listened and advised (solicited and unsolicited!) when my friends had roadblocks in their lives. But it was the minimum I could do. 

Since my birthday is so close to the New Year, a traditional time of reflection on what we've done and can do better, I tend towards making sweeping changes in my life. Lose 50 pounds! Save a million dollars! Stop biting my nails! Exercise 5 times a week! Some happen, some don't. (I'm not always good at the goal-follow-through thing.) But this is a sort-of milestone year and I felt I could do better. Why are these changes always about what I can do for me? I think I would feel a lot better about me if I'm doing more for others.

Inspired by an article in the Ladies Home Journal November 2012 issue that mentioned The Birthday Project (thebdayproject.com) I have decided on a course of action. 

This coming year will be the 45 Acts Of Charity In My 45th Year. This is my personal goal. I considered doing this anonymously and without fanfare because it is not about me, although it is for me. However, if I can bring another person (or a crowd) along with me then I am doing more than just one pair of hands can accomplish. 

So, I invite you to follow along, play the home version of our game! If I donate a bag of groceries to my local shelter, you can, too, no matter where you live. If I visit a nursing home, you can come with me in flesh or spirit and cheer up someone lonely or bored, even if you are in another state or country. If I go to a blood drive and top them off a pint, so can you. And if you do, I hope you will let me know and tell me how it affected your life.

My first step is to plan or join some events. So here I go!....

Liza