My wife and I are always looking for ways to hammer home The Golden Rule to our kids. One of the best ways we have found is to model charitable behavior with them on a daily basis.Pictured above is an apple juice can which currently sits in a prominent position in our livingroom. As you can see, we have pasted a brochure from The Smile Train on the can. The Smile Train is the world's largest charity providing cleft palate surgeries to children throughout the third world:http://www.smiletrain.org/site/PageServer. It is supported by numerous philanthropists whose generosity this charity to make the unusual claim of guaranteeing that all your donations go towards actually funding these surgeries. For as little as $250 US, these people can literally change a life.
Our kids love this idea and are undoubtedly motivated by the before and after photographs of children who have received the surgeries on the brochure. Every weekend when they receive their allowance, they contribute a portion to the can and they decide how much.
I encourage anyone with kids and/or anyone with a heart to start your own savings can for this exceptionally worthy charity. Give a child with a cleft a second chance at life. If you are an athiest like me, I urge you to do it in the spirit of proving that belief in God is not a prerequisite to do good works. If you are a Christian or other religious believer, I trust that my plea for support of this charitable cause is consistent with the tenets of your chosen faith. Regardless of your beliefs, just do it.
Donations to The Smile Train can be made online or via snail mail at:
The Smile Train
28th Floor
41 Madison Avenue
New York, NY
USA
10010
If you decide to follow through on this suggestion, I would love to hear about it.
I agree wholeheartedly.
ReplyDeleteGenerosity starts at home. And it does not always have to be in the form of money. Kids can be taught the value of giving away food and clothing to those less fortunate; they can be taught the importance and satisfaction of giving away sports tickets to children who are impoverished and would otherwise never be able to enjoy a day watching their favourite team; they can be taught the value being a Big Brother or Big Sister to a child who desperately needs one; and so on. These teachings are some of the most important things that we can achieve as parents. We may not all have children who grow up to be the smartest or the best looking or the most athletic or the richest young adults, but what we can influence to a great extent is whether our kids have empathy and generosity in their hearts.
My family doesn't need a Bible or a Church to achieve that. Some do - and that's fine; to each his or her own. But for those who do, stop thinking that you have some moral edge over us just because you happen to swallow a crock of shit.