A different kind of shopping: Giving Tuesday

I finished my Christmas shopping last weekend, I get super anxious having it wait any longer than mid-November, honestly. I set aside dollars for my Christmas budget January – October, so there is no reason for me to really wait. Also, I loathe Black Friday, so waiting for some discounts doesn’t factor into my thinking at all.

So, I skipped out of Black Friday, and Cyber Monday, and am getting a jump on Giving Tuesday. And if you’re hunting down the deals today, that’s cool, but consider throwing some dollars to some local and national organizations as well.

Planned Parenthood, in honor of Mike Pence, of course
National Organization for Women
American Civil Liberties Union
Southern Poverty Law Center
Standing Rock Reservation
Black Lives Matter
Water for Flint, Michigan (yep, they still don’t have safe water)
Dressember, fighting for freedom for current slaves worldwide
Aleppo, Syria Child Refugee Crisis (through UNICEF)
The Red Cross (all donations today will be matched)
Your local LGBQT activism group
Your local political party precinct
Your school board/district foundation
Your local K-12 school (their Arts department? Library?)
Your local humane society
Your local library
A local or national church organization that promotes equality and protecting the vulnerable, downtrodden, and oppressed (I should not have to specify, but not all church or religious organizations do this).

Thanksgiving just happened, let’s try not to forget all the privilege we have and our responsibility to help those who have less. Donations don’t have to be huge, $10 dollars to a few organizations that champion a cause you are passionate about can truly make a difference. If this last election disaster season has taught me anything, it is that EVERY single person counts, the little seemingly insignificant daily acts we do matter.

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6 thoughts on “A different kind of shopping: Giving Tuesday

  1. Stacy

    I agree with you about daily acts.

    I didn’t do much on Giving Tuesday as money is tight right now. I just gave a small donation to the local humane society, which had a matching challenge.

    I have decided for the next year (and possibly the next four years, if I can manage to not become apathetic), I am going to make a small donation to a different organization each month. This month was the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, next month will be RAINN, January will be Sierra Club, etc. My thought was if I keep the amounts small, I can do this long term, rather than donating a bunch only to stop whenever I have an expensive car repair or big vacation planned.

    Reply
    1. Feisty Harriet Post author

      I *love* this!!! I read a tweet the yesterday about the importance of donating money if you have money, and the importance of donating time if you have time. I swing between having extras of each of those, for sure. I love the small monthly donations to different organizations, frankly. I think that consistently doing something you value instead of a “grand gesture” has a lot of symbolic importance. Gold stars for you, all ’round.

      xox

      Reply

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