Make My Day Monday: Lend A Helping Hand

First off, this is not a hockey post.  This isn’t another rant about how the Florida Panthers lack quality forwards, or how Stephen Weiss hasn’t lived up to his billing and how much his play has regressed so far this season.  Those will be coming shortly but, right now I want to talk about what you and I can do to make things a little bit better in our world and I beg your indulgence.  I will try not to ramble.

I saw a story on my local news the other day about how, in these economic times, donations to charities are down.  That means organizations that rely on private support to survive, keep their doors open and their lights on have it just as hard as everyone else.  As I sat at my desk working (ok and maybe I was checking Twitter on my phone), it stayed in my mind.  Somewhere in there, Norton Sports Management’s Make My Day Monday popped into my head and thus, the idea I had is what you are reading now. And the idea is this: Every Monday, I am going to donate what money I can spare to a non-profit organization, and I am asking you to do the same. Now, I’m not asking you to part with money you cannot afford to lose, that’s not the point of this, nor is the amount. Don’t send the rent/mortgage/grocery etc. money because that is also not the point. The point is to do what you can do, and encourage others to follow suit.

On Monday, from here on out, I’ll pick another non-profit organization, donate and post and tell you why. Now, before you think this is a ‘Yay, look how nice and generous I am!’, let me assure you, I’m a man of modest means so it’s not like I’m ‘making it rain’ in the charity world. My reason for posting is that maybe if I speak passionately about who I donated to and why, it might encourage someone else to pitch in. And if you want to post a comment here about who you donated to and why, it might encourage myself or others to join your cause. This isn’t about patting ourselves on the back, it’s shining a spotlight on someone who could use the help! And if you can’t donate a certain week, tell us about who you would donate to if you could! Tell us why! Tell us how we can help!

And don’t think that you have to donate only to children, the homeless etc, not that they aren’t great causes, because they are. But there are millions of non-profit organizations that provide services that aren’t emergency-type services that people might miss if they weren’t there. They need help as well so don’t think your cause doesn’t measure up.

Today, I donated to Feeding South Florida. As of August 2010, Florida’s unemployment rate was 12.4%. As a result, the demand on food banks has gone up as donations have gone down. Most folks don’t want to rely on food banks to provide them and their children with meals, but for some, they just don’t have a choice right now. I gave because children just shouldn’t go hungry in the richest country in the world.

So I ask, if you can donate to something near and dear to your heart, please do. If you do, leave a comment here and tell us who and why. Tell us why we should consider donating as well. Don’t want to comment here? Then Tweet it! Don’t use Twitter? Then place it as your Facebook status! Think Facebook is lame? Then email someone! Don’t worry about amounts (please don’t post the amount if you comment here. Not what this is about), do what you can! Have more time than money? Then volunteer! Tell us where you volunteered and how we, as a community, can help!

As we approach Election Day in the States, you’ve probably been bombarded by politicians saying THEY will make things better. Let me say this, from where I sit, 99% of politicians make things better for themselves and nobody else. WE are the ones who can make this better for ourselves!

Thanks for reading!

You can reach myself on Twitter @davidlasseter and Frank Rekas @TheRatTrick

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