Charity

Every year, my place of work has a charitable giving campaign. They make donation super easy by allowing us to have a certain amount automatically deducted from our paychecks and sent to our designated charities. Ever since I started working here, I have donated money to charities through this campaign. The decision to give was not a difficult one to make; deciding which charities to give my donations to was the agonizing part. There are so many worthy organization out there, I could easily give away my entire paycheck and more to help their causes. I know the importance of and life changing affects charity has firsthand, so it is incredibly difficult for me to say no. I feel pangs of guilt for all the causes that I am unable to support that I wholeheartedly believe in. I am but one person, so all I can do is what I am able to. The first year, I gave money to the Central Virginia Food Bank and the Richmond SPCA. Last year, I gave to the Humane Society and the Natural Resources Defense Council. This year, I decided to once again donate to the Natural Resources Defense Council and chose Water for People as my second organization.

The NRDC speaks to my many concerns for the environment. They are incredibly effective as they have lawyers and scientists working for them and advocating for the environment. Water for People is one of many clean water organizations that assist impoverished countries obtain safe water and create sustainable ways to maintain a clean water supply. This cause is a new one on my radar, thanks in large part to a friend of mine who listened to the following talk at TEDx and shared it with me:







I was astounded at how much of a crisis we have on our hands concerning water. I feel as though we have little hope of truly helping these countries in both the long and short terms if we don't start at the very basics: clean water.

Donating to charities is just one of the many ways I am striving to make my actions match my values. I am not able to give much, but what I am able to give is a hell of a lot better than nothing at all.