Here is an idea that adds a new dimension to giving. This is likely not a novel approach, but, Heart-2-Heart would like to share it.  Thank you to my cousin, Ana, ( who would like to always be anonymous ) for always sharing her ideas and great acts of love. 

    Thoughtfully chosen and assembled care packages for our loved ones, especially those separated from us in distance, is always a fun endeavour made more heart-warming when well and happily received.

    Right after this year’s devastating monsoon in Myanmar and the tragic earthquake in Sichuan, a friend, who lives in a country which has one of the most developed economies in Asia, shared that she already had donor fatigue. Thus, when the typhoon Frank hit the Philippines badly, she said that she really had little else to give. 

    When asked for my thoughts, I shared that if one were to count one’s blessings often, there should be little room for such weariness. When one lives fairly comfortably in a third-world country such as this, and, sees the disadvantaged everywhere, how can one not develop a grateful heart? How can one not be thankful for the blessings of all the basics and then some? 

    More than just giving, I believe that we should not only share actual goods, but, pass on intangible dignity as well.  More often the latter task is more difficult and more personal than the former. 

    Too often, I have seen hastily assembled packages for charity which contain very decent items, but, are also mixed with stained, soiled and very old items which would be of little use to others. When one has lost much, receiving a tattered or dirty item does not do much to lift one’s spirits.

    Rather, when one has little or has been able to recover few possessions, receiving carefully chosen items in good condition does wonders for the soul of the person who has survived adversity. Having heard from those who are part of organizations which distribute goods, I have been told that the joy that decent, especially packaged items elicit is immeasurable. 

    Sadly, calamities usually translate into numerous beneficiaries, and, the situation entails them having to weed through piles of heaped, donated goods to find something appropriate for them and their families. Thus, if we can do our part to carefully choose, package and label the items, a little extra effort helps take the edge off an already stressful situation. When one is down and out, the last thing that one needs to feel is that he or she has to be reduced to scavenging.

    Taking into consideration the fact that the goods have to travel and all the manhandling before it gets to the beneficiaries, and, although the extra packaging is not great for the environment, packaging does help preserve the cleanliness of items, and, the presentation makes the gift all the more special. In essence, instead of just throwing items into a box for giving, taking the extra steps is like gift-wrapping each every one with one’s good intentions.

    Whenever I am given cause to share, I not only physically spring clean, but, I also go through a mental exercise for each item. (That is why this is an activity that takes me months to complete!) I take each item out of its storage space, and, I think as to whether it will make someone happier than it makes me.  What might be of some value to me might be of infinitely more value to someone else.

    As a concrete example, I have given several bags of clothing anonymously to a community of  teenaged orphaned girls. From a distance, I am regularly able to observe that pieces that I might have used only once or twice before are now being worn over and over by different girls. What were just extra pieces of clothing to me are so well used and happily worn by far more than just one person.

    It is a privilege to me that in this particular case, I am allowed to see the donations at work. However, one hand should not really know what the other one is doing, and, this kind of care should be taken whether one ever gets to see the beneficiary or not.

    If we can give dignity more than just giving goods and extras, the process of sharing becomes more rewarding for the receiver and the giver. 

    As Longfellow wrote, “Into each life some rain must fall.” Who ever knows when the once giver is forced to become a receiver by circumstance?

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