It’s really important during this time of year to consider what you will give back, rather than just looking at what you hope to get. The New York Times writer Nicholas Kristof recently wrote a powerful piece about 2019 giving. It is worth reading and learning about the amazing organizations that are helping people around the world, and how they are doing so.
Read this article and learn about charitable giving.
We all know that the American Red Cross (ARC) collects blood and helps during disasters. But what do they do?
The Red Cross teaches courses to prepare people for everyday medical emergencies. There are CPR, First Aid, water safety and caregiving courses. There is a course to become a nurse’s assistant and there are courses for treating adults and for treating children. Participants in these courses receive a certificate upon completion. Many of these courses can be taken online but may need practice sessions to be conducted with an instructor.
Did you know that 4.5 million Americans would die each year without lifesaving blood transfusions? In fact, every 3 seconds someone in the United States needs a blood transfusion: 32,000 pints of blood per day are given to patients. The ARC collects approximately 40% of the blood donated in America while the rest is donated at hospitals and other blood banks. The American Red Cross, with over 300,000 volunteers, can undertake the massive project of collecting and distributing this amount of blood. The ARC also collects blood platelets and plasma in order to save lives. It’s important to mention that 82% of the ARC members are volunteers. This cuts the costs of all ARC activities and enables the major programs to function within financial constraints.
Another of the Red Cross’s major functions is disaster relief. When disaster strikes, victims are happy to receive whatever help they can get. Each year the American Red Cross (AMC) helps people in more than 60,000 disasters, such as apartment and home fires, floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, hazardous material spills, and others.
Hurricane Katrina was one of the worst hurricanes to hit America during the last 50 years. It claimed over 1,800 lives, and over 81 billion dollars of damage, including 350,000 damaged or destroyed residences.
During the disaster, The Red Cross:
Enabled over 3.8 million overnight stays in shelters.
Served over 68 million meals and snacks.
Served a million meals in one day.
Provided emergency financial aid to 1.4 million families.
Opened a website for people to register and find their missing relatives.
The Red Cross is an organization that has done and will do a lot of good through its preparation for emergency courses, its blood collecting, and its disaster relief assistance.
We’ve all heard of Black Friday, where you have the chance to go into debt buying things you might not need…but at least you an do so at a discounted price. Cyber Monday then comes along as well. But less people probably know about Giving Tuesday, it’s a global movement that started in 2012 to shift the holiday focus away from buying – and towards giving.
December 3 is Giving Tuesday this year and since it started, there have been more than 40,000 organizations in 71 countries that are part of the movement. If you use this hashtag #givingtuesday on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram you to connect with other people who are promoting and using this movement.
How can you be part of Giving Tuesday? Just go to your favorite charity online and give to them. Post that you’ve done so on social media to encourage others to as well.
And then feel great that you’ve been part of the giving, rather than the taking!