Article 13: Giving Back when No One is Watching
When I was a kid, my school organized a trip to a local soup kitchen around the holidays. It had been planned for months. On a Saturday two weeks before we were supposed to go, my dad told my brother and I to get into the car. We drove to Irvington, New Jersey where my father grew up. We pulled up in the back of the building and entered in. We were at a soup kitchen.
I didn't understand. 'Why are we here dad? We are coming with the school in two weeks,' I asked. Without a pause he responded, 'It's what we do when no one is looking that shows who you are.'
Being all of 7 years old, I didn't understand what he meant until much later. We wound up frequenting that soup kitchen every month. When we didn't go, my father helped with different charities. It was never just a check, it was always in person, face-to-face. Growing up the way he did, my father understood the importance of funding but believed the true value was in the interactions, relationships, bonds and memories that occurred when you went outside of your comfort zone and connected with people you never would have otherwise.
These lessons I have carried with me throughout my life. Whether it was at the local soup kitchen or Habitat for Humanity office, a women's rights march or walk for Alzheimer's research I always loved going.
As I left home and started my own family, my wife and I have volunteered for a number of different organizations. The one closest to our hearts is Russel Rescue CA. An amazing organization, logo pictured above that rescues Jack Russel Terriers from kill shelters, takes them in from homes that can't keep them anymore etc.
We actually became foster fails, when one of our fosters, Jerzey, bonded with our Golden Retriever.
Every time I have volunteered I have found that I got more out of it than anyone I may have helped. Knowing you are making a difference, knowing you are helping someone, something that desperately needs it provides an inner warmth that is impossible to fully articulate.
Especially now, in the middle of a pandemic, these non-profits need help more than ever.
I know how rough it is in the world right now, but I would encourage you to find a cause and help in whatever way you can. You will be surprised how much it can help your soul.