Day 243: old towels for art class

Just yesterday, an art teacher at my school emailed the staff a request for old towels that could be used when cleaning up after ceramics class.  The goal is to use fewer consumables like paper towels.  It's an admirable idea, and I was so happy that I actually remembered to bring in three old dish towels.  It would be great to get some new dish towels anyway.  This is the type of donation I am really pleased with.  In years past, I might have seen the email from the art teacher, briefly though about how I might help, and then have gone on with my busy life, only returning to that email weeks later while cleaning out my inbox.  This year, I am much more cognizant of my opportunities to donate to other people's causes, and I actually feel grateful when I run across something that will easily fulfill my obligation for the day. 

Day 242: 25 cents to Share the Bread

I'll admit that today's donation is on the lean side--even close to pitiful--but I will attempt to defend the meagerness of it anyway.  First, I have one more day until my paycheck is deposited and as always happens in August, I'm a little closer than I'd like to be to poor.  Second, I was treating myself to a Panera coffee this morning (I love the ability to add your own skim milk and cinnamon there) and I had absolutely no cash. I had to buy my coffee with my debit card, but before I headed into Panera, I grabbed all the coins that were in the change holder in my car (they were mostly pennies) and added them up.  Sure enough, I was able to give 25 cents to Share the Bread, and I'm guessing I was even one of the first people to donate today.  Here's what I'm wondering:  after my year of giving is over, will I continue to donate at Panera or will the Share the Bread box fade into the background, becoming invisible to me on the counter? 

Day 241: $5 to Rubber Duck Regatta

The Rubber Duck Regatta is an annual Labor Day event in Cincinnati with proceeds benefiting the Freestore Foodbank, one of my favorite places to donate.  Kroger makes it easy to purchase a rubber duck for the big race because they have small little coupons right by the checkout stations. I purchased one duck ($5) and logged on to the rubber duck website today to register my guy.  If my duck crosses the finish line first (out of 100,000 ducks) I will win a car!  Sounds nice, but I'm expecting not to win. It's a great idea for a fundraiser though.

Day 240: $1 to Diabetes

I was purchasing steak to grill tonight at Fresh Market when I spotted a donation box for diabetes, specifically juvenile diabetes (or JDRF).  There wasn't a lot of information posted about the fundraising, but Fresh Market definitely makes it on my list of organizations I trust with my donations.  From the website, it looks as if in two weeks, Fresh Market will be doing even more to support the foundation.

On another note, I saw two women begging for money on the street corner today on my way home from the farmer's market.  Both had signs indicating that they were single mothers. Neither looked too terrible (in fact, one was dressed pretty well), and I felt nothing but contempt for the two of them.  Of all the people in our society, single mothers have the most aid available to them through the federal government. I have to wonder if they had to support some other sort of addiction.  In all, I guess 240 days of giving money hasn't really made me any more compassionate to the plight of certain people.

Day 239: $1 for recordable storybooks for soldiers

I was at a local Hallmark store today (Kirlin's Hallmark) purchasing a gift for a friend's birthday when I saw a chance to donate money to a very local program. Employees at just this Hallmark collect money to send recordable storybooks to military personnel overseas with enough time for them to record the stories and send them back home for Christmas. I thought it was a neat idea, and the sign indicated that last year the store raised $5,000 for this endeavor. This is the type of charity where certainly every dollar counts.