Why Donate At All?

Living in the Pierre Bossier Mall Parking lot gives you a little perspective.  Namely, the differences between people who donate, and people who don't.  It's really surprising that the people who are a hair's breadth from needing assistance are the most generous.  That's not to say that all folks with money are Scrooges, but I've seen a lot of Range Rovers drive by without stopping to donate.  If you put some thought in to it, it does make sense.  The people who are closest to needing help understand the need much more intimately than those far removed from it.

4 years ago I lived in East Texas.  I had just lost my job at a country station due to some kind of corporate flim-flam (over budget, shifting the paradigm, downsizing to upscale something something).  Don't get me wrong, I was performing very well (#1 against the monster competitor across the street), the boss' son needed a raise - and I wasn't related to anyone in management.   This was mid-November of 2012.  2 weeks later, my landlord (also a manager at my former job) evicted me even though I had paid my rent!  I had one month to find a place for my family to live, keep us fed, pay new deposits/rent for a new place, and figure out how do do Christmas for my 4 year old son. 

To make matters worse, I had to wait an extra week for my unemployment check to be processed.  Christmas presents were not in the budget, and it was crushing me.  Every time Deacon would sit in my lap and tell me what he wanted Santa to bring him, it sank me into a deeper depression.  I was fighting tears and painting on a smile, it was killing me.  How do you tell a child that there would be nothing under the tree for him?  How would that make him feel anything less than worthless?

There are good parents out there right now, struggling to make ends meet.  These are people you go to church with, people you work with, maybe someone you are looking at right now.  I will tell you first hand, it is one of the most painful feeling in the world, and you are usually too embarrassed to ask anyone for help.  Material things should not affect your perception of yourself - but in this case it absolutely does.

Donate a new, unwrapped toy to the Operation Santa Claus toy drive and you will be putting a smile on an entire family's face this Christmas.  Your help is needed and appreciated by us and many more who would have nothing without you.  You will be blessed as you have blessed others.  Call it God, Karma, or just good luck - it will come back to you.