Help a Life

The other day I spoke with someone - lets call her Elizabeth - who was telling me about her giving experiences at work. Last year, her company collected used clothing to donate to charity. It was a hit! Her co-workers brought in jeans and sweaters, sneakers and jackets. People ran into the store and dropped off bags and bags. Some even got mailed in! But the problem was, her company hadn't decided where it should go and what cause they wanted to support. So when the drive was over, they packed a closet to the gills with clothing and got back to work. The stuff that people were so glad to get rid of, the things cluttering up the closets of Elizabeth and her co-workers, were now cluttering spaces at work! Not exactly what they had intended.

Months later, she did come up with a plan about where to donate it. Elizabeth was glad to have the closet back. 

But best of all, the recipient was thrilled. It was just what they needed - so many people who didn't have a pair of sneakers or a warm sweater got it. What this particular charity couldn't use they sold and that money went towards some of their programs.

The lesson was this: that stuff that was clutter to some was treasure to others. It wasn't at all painful to give - in fact, in this case it was a service to get rid of things that the original owner didn't want anymore. And it did actually mean something. Elizabeth was surprised about how much it meant. When she talked to the staff member at the non-profit she couldn't help but see how grateful she was and how immediately the gift would go to help someone in need. Elizabeth had given before, but it was exciting and eye opening for her to "follow" that gift and see what happened to it, rather than simply drop a sweater in the donation bin and hope that it did something good.

What I came away with was a re-affirmation that giving really does matter. It doesn't have to be a large gift to make a difference. Instead of becoming hopeless because our gift feels to small to change a life, we can focus on helping a life to be a little bit better. I think if people really believed that any gift could help a life, we would all be a little more inclined to give.

(Names and details have been changed to protect the privacy of the charitable)