THE JOY OF GIVING!

?Have you helped somebody today besides yourself??

Give support to get it.?Give praise to receive it.?Give your best to attract it. Give more respect to experience it and give more love to be loved.

Giving begins the receiving process.

I love this extract above from Robin Sharma - The Greatness guide book 2 which sums it all up so perfectly.

?In life we are often taught not to give back. Coming from a poor background my family tended to hold on to everything we had with no thought of ever helping others who could have been far worse off than we were.?

My joy and pleasure was always helping others but I felt guilty and it was only in my early 60’s when I realised the power of giving back.?I had just won the SA Businesswoman of the year 2012 and I wanted to do something where I could leave a legacy. At the time I was introduced to the Girls With Dignity programme which was started by Michelle Brown in PE.?The manufacture of the reusable sanitary pads was run by a Durban girl named Sue Barnes.

?I was shocked and amazed to find out how many girls could not go to school due to having no sanitary protection - it was something that had never crossed my mind - so I took up the challenge and to date over a million packs have been distributed country wide.?My husband even carried 1400 to Zanzibar for me to give out in a rural village to the amazement of the locals.

?My son was introduced to giving back by a very dear friend Sandra McLaren.?She was a school teacher, teaching at a school for underprivileged children?and she approached him for help.?He ended up buying the school and donating it to them and he still runs the finances and assists with teaching staff to this day.?

When I moved to Johannesburg in 2000 I was shocked to find there was no school in Johannesburg for blind children, so promptly bought a building in Melville to house the school and was fortunate enough to meet Bronwyn Jones who runs it to this day.?

Once you start giving back you find two things happen. One - you are blessed beyond measure and two - you find more and more people to give to.?We have started several other schools in Durban and I also work with a wonderful lady named Sne who runs an orphanage for abandoned children in Isipingo. She is incredible - I was with her one day when a lady came up to her with a two week old baby and said – “I can’t look after this child, please take her in”. Without a word Sne took the baby from her - she has never seen the mother again to this day and the sweet little girl is now a beautiful toddler and one of a family of other children all living in a shack built by Sne with her own two hands.?

It is an honour and a privilege for us to take her groceries for the children every month and we also collect lots of clothes and unwanted toys from friends, neighbours and customers in our stores and we take them through to the children who are delighted with everything they receive.

It’s called the joy of giving and it is a real joy to give - so much more fulfilling to give than to receive.

?The saying goes – “As you sow, so you shall reap tenfold” and that’s absolutely true. Giving fills your heart, it fills your cup and it helps others to get back on their feet and teaches them, in turn, the power of giving.

?Much Love,

Margaret Hirsch