Donate School Supplies

School is starting in less than a month.

Right now, many nonprofit organizations (like the one I work for) are having annual school supply drives for those kids that may come from families that have to make difficult choices of getting their children school supplies or food.

Check out the nonprofit section in your local telephone book, check around for a drop off point. Then get yourself over to one of the many school supply sales going on, and spend a few bucks to help a child, just cuz.

Feed Some More, Chicago & Twin Cities

If you’re in the Twin Cities (Minnesota) or Chicago (Illinois) area, please check out Feed My Starving Children (www.fmsc.org). A couple of friends and I are getting together to put together food packets for kids.

The site states:

Feed My Starving Children’s volunteer program offers groups of all kinds the opportunity to work together in a positive, team-focused environment. Some of the groups who make FMSC an integral part of their service programs include schools, churches & synagogues, and corporations.

If you’re not in the Twin Cities or Chicago area, check your local listings and do something for the hungry kids… just cuz.

Give An Extra 42¢

Junk mail abounds!

However, scattered amongst the rubbish we receive on what seems like a daily basis, every once in a while, an envelope from a non-profit organization will appear, asking for a donation.

You’ve seen them, animal protection services, disaster relief agencies, and organizations dedicated to medical research…

Consider giving a donation, big or small, to your favorite organization. After you make out your check, place it in the envelope and seal it, take it one step further and affix a postage stamp on the envelope, especially if it’s a “postage free” return envelope. This will alleviate the cost of postage the organization has to pay to receive your gift. This little bit can go a long way.

Don’t do it cuz it’s just 42¢, do it just cuz…

Raise Money – Lemonade Stand

Teaching children about negative things isn’t always easy. There is almost always a means of making it less gruesome. Teach your kids that there are some children that don’t have all the nice things that others do. Come on, you’re a parent – you know how to pour on the guilt!

Seriously, though, I think it’s a great way to build character in a child. And letting them know that there is a way that they can help is cool too! Convince them to run a lemonade stand; in fact, run it with them! Ask them what kind of charity they would like the nickels and dimes to go to. Try to pick one in your area, and have your child (or children) bring the money directly to the charity, so they can see how it works.

Just cuz…

Bring Some Extra Grub

Gotta love those big dinners.

It’s also nice to have all those leftovers in order to bring your own lunch to work the following day.

Why not show your coworkers how good a cook you are by bringing enough to feed someone else? You never know when you will be the one that is going without a meal.

So offer up some of your grub… just cuz.

Write A Letter (Part 4)

The first day I thought about starting this site/blog, one of the things I wanted to start doing was to send anonymous well-wishes to people. And I welcome you to do the same! Here’s how it works:

Run to your local dollar store and pick up some inexpensive cards that are blank on the inside. Once a month, or week, or daily (if you have the time and gumption), write a note to someone. I’m starting with people in my office – people that I either don’t know that well, or people who appear to need a little day brightener.

The card will say something like “hello” and wishes them a little bit of happiness. I thought a cool message would be:

Here’s a wish that you make someone smile today,
and that someone does the same for you!

Make it more “selfless” by not signing your name, just sign the card “Just cuz…” and leave it on a co-worker’s desk.

Support Your Local School, Theater Group, Fire House

Summer is here!

Next time you’re driving home from the supermarket, and you pass that gas station that is swarming with a bunch of teens with signs that read “Car Wash!” — why not stop and support them.

Many schools have gone through major budget cuts in the last several years, and one way to raise money for school activities is through bake sales, car washes, and other sales-type events.

Support a school in your area, even though you may not have kids going to that school.

Do it just cuz.

Gotta Quarter?

Some may think that this one is a little weird, but I think it’s kind of fun.

Isn’t it a great feeling when you use a payphone and there’s a quarter in the change machine? Or when you’re walking down the street and you find a dime, quarter, or if you are lucky a dollar? I often wonder where this money comes from! I know that obviously someone dropped it, but then I think of the times that I didn’t realize I had dropped a quarter – who got it?

Next time you buy a newspaper at one of those coin-operated machines, leave enough change on the top of the box so that the next guy can get a free paper. For the next guy, it’s like finding money. Okay, it’s not LIKE finding money, it actually IS finding money. But you may make that person’s day.

Why do something like this? Cuz it’s just a quarter, and, well, just cuz…

Bottle Caps, Box Tops, Soup Labels, And Yogurt Lids

You may not realize this, but there are some things you can do with little or no effort to help other people.

Many food and food distributing companies have programs that we, as consumers, can join or participate in. These programs are not only ones that we can benefit from, but ones that others can benefit from as well.

Why not dedicate a shoe box (or two) to collect those bottle caps with codes in them, or box tops and soup labels for school points, or metal yogurt lids to help fight breast cancer.

Check with your local school district or place of worship, and see what they are collecting. At the end of the month, take your bounty to the school or place of worship, or if you’re entering codes from bottle caps, consider donating the points to charities (if this is an option).

Don’t just throw these points away, make the effort to save them to give away, just cuz.

Tithing Your Time

Many people subscribe to the belief that they should tithe – give 10% of their income to their place of worship or to charity. But have you ever thought about tithing your time?

Here’s the math:

There are 168 hours in seven days.
50 hours are spent (on average) at work and travelling to and from work (10 hours a day)
63 hours are spent sleeping (if you’re lucky enough to get 9 hours of sleep a day)
That leaves 55 hours a week you are awake and able to do “your time” things.

We’re all busy with a myriad of things, and we often wonder where all the time has gone. Fifty-five hours is a LONG time! And we easily fill it with grocery shopping, running to the hardware store, picking up kids from soccer, football, basketball, day camp, vacation bible school, watching television, going out to dinner, visiting relatives, etc.

Even with all that chaos, why not try to book an hour a week to volunteer somewhere? You could even make it a one-hour family thing on the weekend. That one hour is actually less than two percent of the 55 hours of available time.

So go online or check your phone book for organizations in your area that need you for an hour a week, or 4 hours a month. A good place to start is a place called Volunteer Match.

If you put it into perspective – if you were actually trying to “tithe your time,” you’d be volunteering over five hours a week or over 20 hours a month. One hour doesn’t seem so much now.

So do something for someone else, just cuz.