|
I give sometimes. I had a direct debit contribution set up for Amnesty International for a while, but had to cancel all my DDs one month when I was skirting close to my OD limit with too many days until payday:P I haven't re-established that DD. I might do at some point.
I usually try to make a donation to Comic Relief when that comes around. Mainly because it seems the right thing to do: we get all that great comedy and entertainment from stars who are giving their time for free. Seems only fair to make a small donation. I gave a £25 donation on the BBC's Children in Need night this year: I gave it on dad's behalf. I know he'd have donated; he always did. He also had a regular donation to Childline; so I know that kid's charities were close to his heart.
I usually try to contribute by buying copies of Big Issue when I'm in town, and I often throw my small change into whatever charity tin is on the shop counter when i shop. I also try to buy at least some of my Christmas and Birthday pressies from the Amnesty and Oxfam online stores. I'm not silly about it: I only do so if I can find things there that people will like. I think something like 30 per cent of my Christmas shopping this year was from Amnesty.
Why I contribute...I dunno. A combination of wanting to feel good about myself and not wanting to feel guilty mostly :P I guess I think I should do it. It's such a small thing to do and it's hard to justify the luxuries in life to myself if I don't also 'do my bit'. It's easier and more palatable for me to make a small donation of money than time. I am very selfish with my time; less so with my cash.
Though I was not raised in a religious household, the Christian ethos permeated my education throughout childhood. Every year there were collections in school for foods and goodies to be distributed amongst the less fortunate and the elderly at Harvest festival. These items would be put together in baskets and small groups of kids would be sent off to take them to people's houses. Likewise there was usually a Christmas pressie collection for the youngsters at the kids' homes. The morning assembly would usually include a story or parable which would try to drum home a sense of personal and community obligation. I think I must have heard the parable of the Good Samaritan a dozen times across my schooling; particularly at Primary School (elementary).
Add that to the working-class socialism which permeated the wider culture I grew up in...it's just one of those things you expect (and are expected) to do n life.
|