I Gave at the Office!

All told, it's been kind of a tough year the world over. It started with the tsunami and pulled us through Katrina, the earthquake in Pakistan, and well, the year isn't over yet. Yes, it has definitely been the year of charitable giving, and it has made it a bit harder to pry open the wallet during the holidays.

I work for a large-ish tech company with highly charitable ambitions and plenty of executives who make more money in an hour than minimum wage workers will pull in in an everage day. So when soliciting donations for this year's charity drive for needy families, I was surprised to see how many people refused to give even a dollar to our cause. Times can get tough during the holidays, that's for sure. Presents are increasingly expensive, and people with large families who haven't thought of secret Santas are often broke by December 25th. Additionally, those of us who work on a contract basis can count on lousy holiday paychecks, as voluntary or forced holidays ensure many fewer work hours per week.

But these are the holidays, people! If your company offers charitable matching (and many do), that means that whatever you give is doubled! I take home a decent paycheck, but even when I was working for lousy pay, I made an effort to give whatever I could, because I knew that my woes were nothing compared to those who had nothing.

If you don't have extra cash to give, consider giving your time. Call around to your city's various soup kitchens and shelters and see if they need an extra hand or two this season. The Salvation Army can always use extra bell ringers. Or, if you can't stand the thought of standing in cold ringing a bell, make up a batch of hot chocolate and give it to the person who IS ringing the bell.

Sometimes the tiniest things make a difference. Leave a candy cane and thank-you/holiday note out for your postal worker. It's not charity, but it's giving. We all hear that giving is better than receiving, but of course that's not true. Receiving is way more fun - but there must be a giver in the first place. The fantastic thing about giving is that it multiplies itself (not linearly, mind you) so that the smallest thing can often make a person's day.

So just offer a little more of yourself this season. Nothing too much, nothing overwhelming. Just a little care, an tiny thought for others, and you'd be surpirsed just how much it will mean to someone else.