Giving Until It Hurts

Dear Friends.

Did you see the explosion last Tuesday? My email blew up. From early in the morning until late in the evening, my aol account burst to life. In the morning, it was the initial ask. "It is giving Tuesday. Please give." Some were more special than others. Bill and Melinda was matching your gifts. Or was that the Floyd and Ethel foundation fund? Either way some people were able to make their dollars go further. Its all good. They were all good causes.That is obvious because they were all causes that the lovely Miss Beverly or I had given to in the past. That is how my email became their target. Even so, no matter how good the cause, or the Gates' Foundation endorsement, I was fatigued by the end of the day when they were encouraging me to get on the bandwagon.

However, I didn't this time. I chose not to because I had joined the trend. I was out there with my hand out. No, I wasn't raising money for the Sharritt CNC router (look it up) fund. The lovely Miss Beverly and I agreed to help Safe Families of Madison County raise money. If you have scoured the blog over the past year, you would have seen a few mentions of Viki and Vaeh, two lovely young girls who stayed with us while their dad sorted some things out. The following is a note that I wrote for the fund raiser. While specifically for this fund raiser, I believe it to be applicable to what many of us felt last Thursday.

I must admit that I am a bit reticent about asking you to support a good cause. And I do believe that Safe Families is a good cause. Not that it saves the world one child at a time. As you may have read in my blog about our experience providing a place for the lovely and talented Miss Viki and Vaeh (the V girls as the hipsters might say), I am not always sure of the good that was done. Bev and I hope and pray the girls' course through life may have been altered just a little. In fact as we have continued to be a presence in their life, we see little glimpses of change and pray that God will continue a good work in them.

The cause is good. However, I am reticent because of a lesson taught to me ten years ago by a good friend. We were busy one hot and humid August afternoon sitting up for the Back to School Fair in Fall's Park. The Back to School Fair was another good cause that used the thousands of dollars generated by playing in the park to purchase back packs for kids in Southern Madison County. It was a good cause and a big deal. Hundreds of person hours were required to plan, organize, set-up, run and tear down this great event. It was held right as school was starting so the volunteer families were under a lot of stress getting the fair set up all of the while wondering just a little about the $100 that they needed to lay out for their own kids supplies and even more desperately wondering where the time would come from to get to town to do the shopping.

The fair opened and the throngs appeared right on time. A group of volunteers had gathered under a shade tree astonished that it had come together and how good everything looked. One of the volunteers wryly said "This would have been a lot easier if some of these good people would have volunteered to help." Several of us nodded in agreement. That is when my wise friend stepped in to give us an education.

"Oh, I don't know," he said. "Joe over there runs the cub scout group mostly without help. Kerry is the coach of a softball team. Doesn't Manisha organize the Indian cultural fair?  I think that Marvin is recruiting help for the Cancer Society walk," He continued. We were surrounded by volunteers who had given all they could and needed an afternoon in the park with their family to enjoy one another. Chastened, I am always reluctant to assume that my cause is the one you should give to. There are tons of opportunities and only a limited amount of resources.

Last night, while sitting at the dinner table, my alma mater called to ask me for my annual contribution. Annie, a sophomore in the school of agriculture started in on her spiel and I blurted out, "I will give you $25 if you don't say another word but if you continue the script I will give you nothing." The hands out and manipulation can be overwhelming sometimes. I get it, and yet I ask.

If you have the money, and/or time to give, Safe Families will put it to good use. If not . . .

. . . I have surrounded myself with giving people. You, the giving people, are just more fun to be around. Your parties are bigger. Your homes are more inviting. You let me stop by your pool or ride in your boat. I love what you have done with the patio. That dinner party was so much fun. I love your generosity. Thank you for all that you give.

Take care

Roger.

Thanks to all of you who gave $850 toward Safe Families. And if you would like to give but haven't yet, go to:

http://crowdrise.com/safe-families-for-children-of-central-indiana-giving-tuesday/fundraiser/bevsharritt