NOTE: At the end of this post, I'll tell you the rules for my holiday giveaway: The winner will receive a $500 Steiner Sports gift card and a $500 donation to the charity of his/her choice!
One day when I was around ten years old, and we had just gotten our monthly welfare check, my mom told me she was going to take me to Woolworth’s for a banana split, and after that to the discount Brooklyn department store May’s, to buy some clothes.
Going to Woolworth’s for a banana split was always super-exciting, because Woolworth’s cafeteria had these balloons floating above the counter; when you ordered a banana split, the cashier would pop one – inside was a card that said how much you’d have to pay for the banana split, ranging from one cent to 59 cents. It was the closest a little kid like me came to playing the slots in Vegas!
Anyway, I had my banana split (forgot how much we paid for it) and we walked over to May’s. Standing outside of the store was a homeless man holding out a hat.
As we approached him, I watched breathlessly as my mom dropped one of our precious welfare dollars into the man’s hat.
As I walked by him, I reached into the hat and took the dollar out.
“Put that back!” my mom said.
“But we need this,” I said.
“He needs it, too,” my mom said. “When someone asks for help, it’s not for us to judge. That’s for someone else. We should help as many people as we can, as often as we can.”
I didn’t fully understand it at the time – we really did need that money! But I get it now. My mom understood something very deep.
Giving is like having fun, in that it’s an inelastic part of living well and feeling good about yourself.
You can’t wait until you have “enough” money (or other things) to start giving to others.
In fact, when you're feeling strapped might be the most important time to remember why giving is good for you.
Because it’s true what they say: Tis better to give than to receive.
Aside from often being “the right thing to do,” giving makes us feel good about ourselves, which helps us become our best selves.
Giving is like eating and sleeping. It’s not something we should do when we can. It’s something we must do.
Think about everything you receive from others in one day. That might give you an idea of how necessary giving is in one form or another.
Now think about what you can give back. Granted, it might not be “much,” but you have something you can give.
Whether it’s your time, or your ear, or food, or money, or whatever, give something to somebody in need when you’re done reading this post.
Then tomorrow, and the next day, and the next...
Make giving a consistent part of your life. "Budget" it in there.
Or, as the Red Hot Chili Peppers sing: Give it away now!
My mom would promise: you’ll be glad you did.
Speaking of giving...
Who wants to win $1,000? I am giving away TWO $500 prizes to ONE lucky winner: one $500 Steiner Sports gift card, and one $500 check for the charity of his/her choice.
Enter to win by completing the following:
1 - COMMENT below the last time you did something special for someone else and tell me why you did it!
2 - SUBSCRIBE to this blog: https://stnr.co/2vGagEu
Gain a BONUS entry by mentioning the charity you would have me donate to and WHY!
I will pick a winner on Friday, 12/14 at noon! Good luck everyone.
Older couple live across the street, noticed the wife is newly using a cane and the husband is older then her and sorely out of shape. They were putting up their Xmas Decorations and moving around some heavy planters to make room. I threw on my shoes and ran out to help. Helped out for fifteen minutes, moved some heavy planters and hopped on the step ladder and hung some lights up. I was a little apprehensive because I don’t have health insurance. Hopefully they’ll keep an eye on my Mom who’s in her eighties and help her out if she needs it. Any Senior Meals Charity works for me. Thanx.
Earlier this year I was traveling from Toledo Ohio to Marion Indiana. My mother was in critical condition following a massive heart attack and in a medically induced coma to allow swelling in her brain to decrease before determining remaining brain function. So I was headed to the hospital and if her brain function wouldn’t allow her to resume a normal life after recovery then I was going to tell the doctors to remove life support and allow my mother to pass away.
So my wife, my 7 year old son and I stop at a gas station just over the state line into Indiana. My kid needed to use the restroom, I needed a few minutes just to clear my mind and get the tears to stop as I thought about the exact purpose of the trip and how final it all could be.
I come across a man asking others for their spare change. As my son and I walked past him on our way into the store, he asked us if we could spare change. I told him “if I have any I’ll give it to you on the way out bud”. He then tells me he lost his home following being hospitalized for, of all things coincidentally, a massive heart attack. I couldn’t believe it. So I go in, buy chips and an energy drink, and walk past the atm on the way out, still thinking about the guy outside, and my mom, both victims of their heart not being strong enough.
For reasons I still don’t fully understand, I put my debit card in the atm and pulled out $60 (I only had a little over $100 to my name until pay day). I didn’t intend to give it all to the guy but I felt compelled to make sure he had enough to get a hotel room for the night So he could sleep in a bed.
So I walk out and I hand the $60 to him and ask if I could give him a ride to the hotel and he accepted the offer. We go in together to get his room and my son asks why I have him so much money. I replied “because Mason, he needs it far more than we do right now. He has nothing. No house, no family, no friends. He’s alone. It’s just the right thing to do buddy”. And then my son walks out to the car.
Were finishing up paying for his room and my son walks back in, full of youthful excitement and hands the guy his stuffed animal he was gonna give my mom. Then my son said “there daddy, now he has a bed tonight and a friend to keep him company”, which brought both me and the man to tears.
I ended up losing my mom later that night, as I did end up deciding to remove life support. But on the way back out of town, I happened to drive past the same gentleman again, and tucked under his arm was the stuffed animal my son had given him.
I couldn’t help but smile and take comfort knowing everything would be ok.
Thanks for reading.
Brian Dailey,
USAF Veteran and proud father of Mason Dailey
I’m on disability myself wWhat food I get the extra that I get and do not I’ll pass on to other people that could use it more just because the Lord has blessed me with what I do have and if I did get the $500 I would want you to donated to the Red Cross because of the people that they had help in the past
Yesterday I was stuffing dimes into a parking meter when a women walked up pretty frazzled. She said, “I swear I’m not a bum, but my car was just towed. I have $9 on me and Uber said it will cost $17 to go get my car.” I handed her a $20 bill without thinking and kept sliding change into the meter. As I walked away, a guy said, “Wow, that was pretty cool. You’re a really nice lady.” I just said, “it’s $20 and it’s Christmas.”
If I won – I’d donate the money to Make-A-Wish, my new employer. So many of my dreams have come true. I’m going to spend the balance of my career making dreams happen for kids facing life-threatening illnesses.