What do you do to make the world a better place?

[bisous]

Where do you volunteer? Where do you contribute money?

I'd have to say that the biggest contribution to the world that I make right now is in the way that I am raising my boys. However, I'm curious if any of you have found rewarding ways to incorporate charity and activism into your life.

I'd love to hear about your ventures. I'm anxious to parent by example and demonstrate to my sons how much good one person can do.

Thanks!

Jen

[pb&j]

We regularly give money to just a few charities.

I volunteer once a week on my lunch hour at a charity near my work.

DH is a professional photographer and does work pro bono for a few local organizations.

The money part is pretty easy. It's harder to make time to actually go out and volunteer. I read books for Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic www.rfbd.org and I love it. It's my dream job, actually!! ;) That's key for me - I'd have a lot harder time volunteering if I were just filing papers or chopping vegetables. I look forward to my slot each week.

For DH it's similar. He gives a huge amount of his time to charities every year, because he's able to do something he loves.

As for activism, I do believe the old saw that the personal is political. We really try to practice what we preach and put our money where our mouth is. Recycling, picking up trash on the playground, buying local, and avoiding companies whose practices and politics we feel are wrong are things we do to incorporate our values into our everyday life.


-Ry,
mom to Max, age 1.5
and my girl in heaven

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/37124.gif

[maestramommy]

When Dh and I got married we made a contribution to Heifer International in lieu of wedding favors. Every year we make another contribution. We get their magazine and it's great to see the work they do around the world to make farming sustainable and communities self-sufficient.

We don't do any volunteering on a regular basis, but Dh went to Katrina the week of Thanksgiving after it hit with our church group to help gut houses, clean a church, etc. We participated in a blitz built for Habitat South Africa, so that got us interested in doing it locally. We did it once together, and DH did it once this summer. I think as the girls get older we'll be able to volunteer more. But for now, it's mostly contributions.

We also try to keep landfill down, by reusing, recycling, and buying used when it makes sense.

[kijip]

I manage a non-profit for work. Not exactly altruistic (I do bring home a paycheck) but daily M-Th I have interactions with clients that mean a lot to them or complete work that helps expand or improve our services. I have mixed feelings about my work being something I can count as giving but I do think it is true that by working at a charity and specializing in the field, that I am forgoing some of the benefits and pay scale that a similarly qualified business manager of a for profit would be getting.

I volunteer at my local food bank during the week picking up day old pastries etc and on the weekends at the food bank and baby cupboard.

We are committed to making regular donations that are around 10% of our take home pay. We give mainly to local charities that work on poverty, domestic violence, women's health and children's services. We also now try to give away things that we could have sold- things like nice furniture or a TV or toy to charity rather than selling it or returning it.

Those are the day to day things that I think Toby learns from the most, but we do other volunteer things as well. Everything from leading new parent groups to working with rape or dv victims to tutoring math.

I try to be kind and generous to those around me. I like to think, as some of my friends have noted about me in the past, that by socializing and welcoming new people into regular get togethers that I am supporting my community and helping people to feel welcome and connected to those around them. I truly believe that listening to a neighbor or being encouraging to a friend or dropping off fresh bread to a sick acquaintance makes everyone a little happier. It also means I can recruit people easily for a charitable effort- my group of friends right now is buying coats for kids, something we as individuals may not have done unless it was a group effort.

I think being a good example to my children is important. It normalizes giving as a fundamental part of life. I know that I grew up with parents that volunteered regularly and since I was a teenager, I did the same. It was just taken for granted that volunteering time was a part of life with my parents. Even today, my parents both still are heavily involved in running a homeless feeding program, even though they are both not in particularly good health.

****Rocking out while parenting my smart little 4 year old munchkin Toby.
The butter melts out of habit, you know the toast isn't even warm. -Ani DiFranco

[MelissaTC]

For almost 5 years now, I have donated my time and talents to my local MOMS Club serving in various board positions. It is important to me to have the support network as a stay at home Mom and I wish to see that continue for other stay at home Moms. This area is very transient so there are lots of new Moms to serve. I also head our holiday donation drive to a local women's shelter.

I also volunteer my time and money to my church. DH does more for the church as an officer of the Knights of Columbus. I do what I can. I am a member of an organization that helps pregnant and new mothers in dire situations with money, meals, support, etc... I am on the meal committee. I am more active in my son's school that is affiliated with our church. I am serving in a board position through the parent/teacher organization.

As far as donations, we have automatic payroll deductions given to our charities of choice. Since we live in a politically split household, our rule is to not give political donations. Instead, DH gives his portion to MDA. That has been a charity of his since he was a boy. I give my portion to the women's shelter I mentioned previously.

M has been a part of our church work since he was an infant. Now that he is older, he can help at the pancake breakfasts, etc.. just by being present. Everyone loves a cute kid. ;) He takes pride in helping and we are trying to teach him that it is important to be active and care about those in your community, to take care of those in your backyard.

Sometimes I wish I could do more. I wish I had more money to give, more time. I just think it is so important to be active in your community, whether it is your civic community or your church community. Life is what you make of it. It truly is better to give than to receive. Nothing makes you feel better than reading a thank you card from a woman who lives in the shelter, who had a nice holiday with her children because you took an extra 5 minutes out of your day and an extra $20 to buy something for them. It doesn't take much to touch others and to make a difference.

[jadamom]

We donate money to various places, such as the American Red Cross (I used to volunteer at local blood drives), United Way, our alma maters, World Wildlife Fund, National Wildlife Fund, American Cancer Society, NPR, and PBS.

I also try to remember every day to click to give free mammograms at the breast cancer site http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=2 and the other associated sites.

I have an idea for a website, and I'm thinking that a percentage of the money it may produce will go to charity.

I also try to be conscious of the environment and recycling efforts and being green, and hope to teach this to my kids.

Lately, I've been trying to help a new mother by bringing her food and hand-me-down clothes, crib, toys, rocker, etc. I've also been babysitting the newborn so she can get some rest.

[val01]

I am the Human Resources Director for my company. We have a program where we pay our staff to volunteer at a non-profit local organization. We have done Meals on Wheels, Animal Assistance Leagues, park clean ups, Habitat, etc. Personally, I donate food to the food bank and my time to a Women & Children's homeless shelter.

My husband is a pilot and flight instructor. We own a small plane. He is a volunteer pilot for Angel Flight that takes financially needy families to receive the medical care they need out of area that they wouldn't be able to get to otherwise. We donate the pilot, plane, fuel, and of course time. Until she passed away this summer, my husband carried an elderly woman from her island home to the mainland for weekly dialysis treatments.

We also adopt families through both our temple and at the local Salvation army for the holidays.

We are blessed and want to give back.

Valerie

[Radosti]

We run an animal rescue. We've saved over 80 dogs from certain death over the past 6 years. While fostering dogs has become more difficult, so we do it much less, we've discovered a huge cat problem in the area.

Over the summer, I stumbled on a large cat colony on a farm that is literally a street over from my house. Lots of kittens with many so sick they were on the brink of death. We caught 14 adults, had them fixed and released 13 of them back onto the farm. The last one is friendly and lives in my basement now. We've also saved 15 kittens, had them fixed and placed them in great homes. The last 4 are getting fixed on Tuesday and are going home this week (thank God).

We also dumpster dive at the local petsmart and a local pet supply shop. We've pulled over 13,000 lbs of dog and cat food (damaged, slightly expired or nearing expiration) out of their dumpsters. This food goes directly to a local no-kill shelter to feed their animals. This has saved the amt of waste going to the landfill and at the same time saved thousands of dollars for the shelter. They come with their econoline van and we fill it to the top. They have purchased a new pet food shed to keep it all safe while they use it. We also give them leashes, toys, treats, and flea treatments we find.

We also pull out tons of animal cages from the same dumpsters. Probably 15-18 since June. We spread those out among local rescues. A rabbit rescue just came by last weekend and picked up a number of cages and all the rabbit food and treats I pulled out of the dumpster. I also support the cat colony with a bunch of the cat food, gravity feeders and waterers that I pulled out of those dumpsters.

I now have my mom doing the same thing at the same store by her house. She regularly takes hundreds of pounds of dog and cat food to her local shelter.

It's really weird to be dumpster diving, but when you fill up your entire SUV with bags and bags of food, you know you are doing the right thing. It's being fair to the planet as well as giving back.

[wendmatt]

DD and I do books on wheels once every 2 weeks. We get books from the library and take them to a nursing home for the people there who can't get to the library. We don't have a lot of spare cash but I'm trying to teach DD that it's nice to help people who can't help themselves.