Project Advent, Day 18: Donation to Red Cross

12/18/2011

I hadn't planned to do any more donation days in Project Advent, but today was a good day to do my last one.  Courtney is working her fourth night in a row tonight, so I've got the kiddos, and I'm kind of bushed from doing shopping yesterday and food prep today for tomorrow night's project.

Actually, I'm kind of excited for the chance to try this out, because ever since the day that I did some work at the Red Cross, I've thought that their Holiday Giving Catalog is just a really great idea.  To summarize, you get to go "shopping" at the Red Cross's website, and what you purchase is an item or service that helps them with their mission.  There's really a wide variety of choices, too: blankets or temporary shelters for disaster areas, phone cards and comfort/hygiene packs for soldiers, swimming lessons for kids, food truck sponsorships for when they go in the field, and on and on.  What makes it cool is that you're not just sending money and wondering what happens with it.  You get to choose exactly what you want it spent on.

Today I made a donation for the purchase of blankets.  It was an amount close to one hour of my pay, which was my criteria for donations, but I had another reason for choosing that, too.  When it snowed a few weeks ago, I went into my children's rooms just before I went to bed, and made sure that they were covered snugly under their blankets.  It's something that I do on a lot of nights, but on that night I realized how much pleasure and joy I take from that small act of making sure that they are warm and comfortable.  When I saw that item in the Red Cross catalog, I thought of what it must be like to lose your home in a disaster, and not be able to see to that basic bedtime moment.  That's why I wanted to give blankets.

I'm three-fourths of the way through Project Advent.  Tomorrow is a big one.  I'm very excited about it.

Gratitude Project: I have two days at the office this week, and then I'm off for a week, to spend Christmas at home with my family.  Ask me how much I'm looking forward to that.
 

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Every comment is like a fresh flower, so please write!