I've always thought of myself as having a little Grinch in me. I'm not the holly jolly sort and usually don't go in for a lot of sappiness. But the last week or so the spirit of the season has caught up with me big time!
It started on Friday when I read this link Kaylea posted on Facebook to a news report about good Samaritans anonymously paying off the Kmart layaway accounts of struggling families with young children. By the time I was halfway through the article I was all choked up and close to honest-to-God tears.
Then Saturday night I caught a re-run of CNN's Heroes of 2011 broadcast (originally aired last Monday) honoring 10 adults and several teenagers for their selfless giving to others. These are people who aren't famous and don't grandstand, just quietly go about their good deeds. The Hero of the Year, midwife Robin Lim, runs a clinic offering free prenatal care, birthing services and medical aid to poor women in Bali. Then there was the teenager who built 18 homes for poor families in Mexico by this 18th birthday, and the world class chef who cooks pasta dinners seven days a week at the Boys & Girls Club in Anaheim, California, and on and on. Again I felt myself misting up at the thought of how good people can be.
In the spirit of the season, I've decided to up my game by making additional contributions to a couple of organizations I've supported this year:
This weekend the news reports told of the last U.S. combat troops leaving Iraq for good, but we're still bogged down in Afghanistan. There, medical personnel with the Army's 10th Mountain Division have launched Operation Spartan Stork, dedicated to winning the hearts and minds of the local population--not as that phrase was used in Viet Nam, by bombing the living crap out of everything that moved, but by truly helping. Operation Spartan Stork is trying to reduce the maternal and infant mortality rates in Afghanistan--the second highest in the world--by distributing birthing kits designed to minimize the risk of infection in home deliveries, and by training local women how to use the kits. The Operation Spartan Stork facebook page has information on how to help by sending supplies so they can assemble more birthing kits.
Also in Afghanistan, the Afghan Women's Writing Project (AWWP) is helping that country's women writers share their voices with the world. The AWWP operates two "writing huts" in secret locations--secret because some Afghan men don't think women should be empowered to express themselves. The writing huts are sanctuaries where women can transmit their work to the outside world through the internet, receive mentoring from American women authors and professors, and participate in writing workshops and reading salons.
Happy holidays to all of you, and may you find joy in giving, whether of your money, your time or your talent, at home or abroad.
3 comments:
That's excellent, Gail! That K Mart Layaway story got to me too and my aunt bette always called me, Jenni Penny, you old Scrooge.
Yay, you've caught the holiday spirit fever too! I love that K-Mart story. Isn't it nice to hear about something GOOD happening in our society these days? I wish a wave of goodness would sweep across the entire world and wash away war and misery with it. Hey, I can hope, right?
This year I'm donating to the Special Operations Warrior fund. I figure since I'm on the Board of Directors for a post-secondary scholarship fund, it would be fitting for me to help fund the post-secondary education of the fallen men I admire so much.
You have such a generous soul, Gail. ;)
Post a Comment