2. When we give, we participate in what we deem is important.
When I was 22 I was out of college and taking a gap year. I’d traveled a bit overseas by then and had seen the economic breach between how people in first and third world countries lived.
One night after my shift working as a waiter at a restaurant, I was up late, hanging out watching TV. A commercial came on for a child sponsorship organization. I recognized the name of the organization and knew it was reputable. But I dismissed the idea of sponsoring a child with the thought that I wasn’t making much money myself. Participation in one of those organizations was only for older, financially established people, right?
Wrong. Over the next few days, I couldn’t get the idea out of my head. I knew kids were living in impoverished conditions throughout the developing world — I’d seen them firsthand. Giving those kids a hand up was something I deemed important. It was within my grasp. I couldn’t help all the kids on the planet, but I could help one.
A week or two later, the same commercial came on. That night I wrote down the 800-number for the organization. The next day I called and sponsored a child.
It turned out to be a pretty cool thing. I sponsored a 10-year-old boy in rural India named Kamal. Over the years we wrote letters back and forth through the translators in the program. He eventually grew up, and thanks to the program was able to go on to higher education, get a good job, and lift himself out of poverty.
I like to think I had a hand in helping him along the way. I didn’t change the world. But I did do something.
The point? Anybody can wear a tee shirt with an altruistic slogan on the front. But ask a man to show you his wallet. Where his money goes is the truer indication of what he deems important. If you care about something, then actually give to it.
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