When you examine your life and all the benefits you enjoy, from access to higher education to a job that lets you support your family, the success you’ve achieved will be all the more sweet when you can share some of it with those who are less fortunate. A donation that makes barely a dent in your bank account has the power to dramatically improve the lives of others in less pleasant circumstances. With that in mind, here are five reasons why donations change lives.
Water
In desperate circumstances, people can go for many days without eating as long as they have some fat reserves, but there is much less leeway when it comes to potable water. Your donation of cash during an emergency can help bring water to people following a natural disaster. It’s possible to save people’s lives with just a few thousand dollars when you are helping parts of the world in destitution, according to a recent article at the New York Times.
Food
Lack of food or food insecurity is blight on the planet that we should all endeavor to eliminate. The canned and boxed food items that you donate to a charity will go directly into the stomachs of starving people in your community or around the world. Avoid giving away just the cans of food your family hates eating and just wants to get rid of. It would be kind of you to donate foods that you enjoy consuming as well.
Vehicle
Do you have an old car or truck that will still run (possibly needing a few repairs still) and that you no longer wish to keep? Instead of selling it to a person or a dealership, you can donate it to a worthy organization. The vehicle you donate can support the operations of your favorite charity, noted the Donating to Charity page at USA.gov. For example, the vehicle will help facilitate the delivery of meals to shut-ins or take volunteers to clean up a park.
Medicine
Access to medicine is of vital importance in areas hit by disasters, war and other disruptions. The cash donations you make can help defray the costs of vaccinations in impoverished areas that have a limited healthcare infrastructure.
Literacy
Once people’s basic needs of water, food and medicine are being met, the next step is to develop new skills so they can do more to take care of themselves. Anyone who does not know how to read deserves a shot at literacy. Your donations can support the efforts of volunteers to bring the gift of reading to those who have previously lived in the darkness of ignorance.
Regularly giving money to support worthy efforts can lift your mood as you realize just how much help your donations can provide to people in urgent need of assistance. Whether you tithe a percentage of your income or profit from your business on a regular basis to your favorite institution or prefer to make donations according to incoming requests that you evaluate one at a time, the resources you provide should help make the world a better place.