It's Better To Give Than Receive- Homeless Man Gives $250.00 To Charity

From a spiritual perspective it's far better to give than to receive. Most religious and spiritual faiths emphasize the importance of giving to others, either through good deeds or monetary aid.  Acts 20:35 of the King James Version of the Bible says:

I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

It's even more remarkable when those who have nothing manage to find small ways of giving to others what little they have.  That's what a homeless 77-year-old veteran did. Ed Denst saved up 250 one dollar bills and then donated the lot to the Society of Saint Vincent De Paul Council in Los Angeles. $250.00 might not seem much to some, especially those cynics who believe that since he "didn't lift a finger to get that $250", " giving it away means absolutely nothing," but it does.

KCAL9's Rachel Kim asked Denst, "You could buy meals, you could buy yourself clothes, you could do a lot with that money. Why give it away?"

"Well, because I thought about giving back. (It) makes me feel very good," he said.

Denst, an ex-Marine, said he became homeless after his wife died 23 years ago. He admitted he sold his house and spent all his money.

Denst said he'll continue to give, not just take. He doesn't consider himself a religious man, but he's learning the Lord's prayer.

"Give us this day our daily bread...that is very meaningful to me. I think that is how I have every day," he said.

"What I'm learning is that people are charitable and that should make me thankful."

Kudos to Denst.

Source: CBS

Mayan End of The World Charity Game: Wheel of Destruction

It's 5 days until the end of the world (December 21), at least according to the Mayan calendar. So, here's a fun game you can play while earning money for various charitable organizations.

Fashioned after the Wheel of Fortune, this one is called the Wheel of Destruction. 

Can the much anticipated, possibly over-hyped, world-ending 2012 Mayan Apocalypse raise awareness for disaster-preparedness? Yes – so much so that we’ve made a fund-raising game around the much bally-hoo-ed Mayan End of the World.

Just log on (via Facebook or your Twitter account), choose your charity and match three-of-a-kind as you spin the Wheel of Destruction. When you match three destructors, you’ll see a wacky world-ending simulation and, more importantly, the good folks at WoD will make a donation to your chosen charity to help prepare for and relieve actual disasters.

How much money you raise for charity depends on what destructor you match three times:
Though we loathe to tempt Fate, we’re almost completely sure that the 2012 Mayan Apocalypse is a myth. But either way, play Wheel of Destruction and mankind will be better prepared for survival.

Note: you will only be allowed to play for charity once per day (from 12:00 am to 11:59 pm EST) but you can practice as much as you want. A total of $3,000 will be donated among the various charities on approximately December 28, 2012.

The only drawback is having to sign in with either Facebook or Twitter.

Click here for the game on www.wheelofdestruction.com

Here's a little low down on the history behind the Mayan Apocalypse from their website.

Mayan Apocalypse 2012

The countdown to the apocalypse is on. The ancient Mayan Long Count calendar allegedly marked as the end of an era that would reset the date to zero and signal the end of humanity. But will it?

The end of the world theories stem from a stone tablet discovered in the 1960s at the archaeological site of Tortuguero in the Gulf of Mexico state of Tabasco that describes the return of a Mayan god at the end of a 13th period.

"The Maya are viewed by many westerners as exotic folks that were supposed to have had some special, secret knowledge," said Mayan scholar Sven Gronemeyer.

The blogosphere exploded with more speculation when Mexico’s archaeology institute acknowledged on a second reference to December 21, 2012, on a brick found at other ruins. “Human beings seem to be attracted by apocalyptic ideas and always assume the worse,” Gronemeyer said.

Believers have taken the end-of-the-world fears to the Internet with hundreds of thousands of websites and blogs.

Eat Non-Dairy Ice Cream and Donate to Charity

I received an email this morning from Vegetarian Times about So Delicious^® Dairy Free frozen dessert teaming up with Brees Dream Foundation, so I decided to look into it. I love finding mutually beneficial opportunities to donate to good causes, especially for those who don't have that extra cash to give.  In this case you get to eat delicious So Delicious products, and for each non-dairy goodie you buy between July 1st and August 31st So Delicious will donate a portion of the net sales (0.75% ) to the Foundation.  There is no cap and they expect the donations will reach at least 50,000.00. It will depend on how much we buy.

I can vouch for So Delicious: since I don't eat chocolate, I have only tried their Soy vanilla frozen dessert (which is yummy), but some of their other flavors sound incredible. Chocolate Obsession. Mint Marble Fudge. They've got sandwiches and fudge bars.  The also have a line of coconut milk products, including a coconut milk ice cream in coconut, vanilla and mango that I have tried, all of which are to die for. I've also tried their strawberry coconut milk yogurt drink, and their soy and coconut milk. And the great thing is you can get coupons on their website.

The campaign is only good on the frozen treats, but the other products are worth a try if you are lactose intolerant, or choose not to eat dairy.

I decided to check out Brees Foundation because I know nothing about it.  It was apparently founded by New Orleans Quarterback Drew Brees and his wife Brittany:

The Brees Dream Foundation was founded in 2003 with a mission to improve the quality of life for cancer patients, and provide care, education and opportunities for children and families in need.

Brittany and Drew Brees and the Brees Dream Foundation have collectively committed and/or contributed more than $11,000,000 to charitable causes and academic institutions in the New Orleans, San Diego and West Lafayette/Purdue communities. Some of the Brees Dream Foundation’s most recent commitments include:

• Partnering with Nike and the Allstate Sugar Bowl to support the City of New Orleans and Mayor Mitch Landrieu in providing funding as part of $23 million in improvements to transform Joe Brown Park into a world-class, regional park to enable children and families to be healthy and active.
• Contributing $1,000,000 in funding for the renovation project at the American Cancer Society Patrick F. Taylor Hope Lodge.
• Contributing $295,000 for the “Peek-A-Boo Camera Project", which will include 51 cameras at Ochsner Medical Center (42 NICU, 6 LDR and 3 antepartum).
• Contributing $100,000 to complete funding for the GW Carver Field of Dreams.
• Contributing a total of $150,000 equally between KIPP Charter Schools and Teach for America.
• Contributing $80,000 to Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego.
• Contributing $50,000 to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana.
• Contributing $50,000 to St. Michael’s Special School.
• Contributing $125,000 to Tad Gormley Stadium Renovation.
• Contributing $50,000 to the Purdue Athletes Life Success Program.
• Contributing $35,000 to the San Diego Armed Services YMCA.
• Contributing $50,000 to the New Orleans Ballet Association.

What I like about them is that they have donated to everything from the arts to the military. I couldn't find any information on any of charity ranking websites, but that doesn't really mean anything.  Drew seems to be one of the good guys.

In case you are wondering, this is not a paid sponsorship, I just want to share a good thing.

For other free, fun and easy ways to give to charity, check out my other post.

Free, Easy and Fun Ways To Give To Charity

In these challenging economic times, it's not always possible to donate money to charity, as much as we'd like to.  And we don't always know if that money is going to end up in the hands that most need it, or merely line the pockets of those who run the charitable organizations. 
We do know that giving makes us feel better:

A team from the University of British Columbia said spending as little as $5 (£2.52) on others helped.

Staff who got bonuses and spent some of the extra money on others were happier than those who spent their bonuses on themselves, the research found.

A UK psychologist said such charitable giving improved how people saw themselves - and how others saw them.

And $5.00 isn't much for an improved sense of well-being.

If you do have the money to freely give but you want to make sure the charity is worthy of your hard-earned cash, check out Charity Navigator or Charity Watch.  Both websites have rating guides to help you determine which organization you feel most comfortable supporting.

But there are other ways of 'giving' which cost nothing more than your time.

1. Volunteering: There are a zillion different organizations looking for volunteers, all you have to do is narrow down who and how you want to help, whether it's children, military vets, animals, senior citizens, or the homeless.  Check out organizations like United Way, the Humane Society, the Salvation Army, the list is endless.

2. Donate Goods:  If you have old clothes, furniture, knickknacks, kitchen items or anything that you no longer want or need, drop those off at places like Goodwill, the Salvation Army or a slew of other charities.

One of the easiest ways of donating is just a click away:

1. Freerice.com- is a fun way of donating grains of rice and helping to add to  your vocabulary at the same time.

2. Thehungersite.com- also donates food to the needy with just a click.

3. Thebreastcancersite.com- by clicking you can provide a free mammogram to women who can't afford one. You can do this once a day.

4. Care2.com- has a variety of different causes (from violence against women to saving seals) you can click to help.  You can also do this once a day.

And here's a portal website that lists a bunch of different organizations that allow you to click to donate.

Another way is to use those sites that allow you to shop for what you need and at the same time donate for nothing.

1.  shopforcharitynow.com

2.  igive.com

3. goodsearch.com

4. goodshop.com

The easiest and most hassle-free way to give to others is the 'click to give' sites, but give in any way you can. There is always someone needier than we are.

So go on, make yourself and someone in need happy.