One of the biggest differences between conservatives and leftists/progressives is charity. We reach into our wallets; they reach into yours.
For years I heard Democrats screaming about how horrible it was that the wealthy were taking advantage of tax laws by making charitable contributions. At a time when I was getting taxed at 45 cents on the dollar, giving $100 to a charitable cause only cost me 65 dollars. I think.
Whenever I have given money to charity, I’ve done it locally.
My son fell in love with The Magic Tree House series; he was reading them at the school. I went to B&N and told them what I wanted to do. Together with B&N, we were able to give a complete set of the books to the school. I think it was about 50 books.
I’ve donated to the local food pantry, and I’ve given to local churches. If there is a good group selling something to make money, I’ll often donate three times what they would have made from selling me something I didn’t want.
When my son was pushed to go door-to-door to sell something to raise money for the school, I met with the principal to find out how much they made per dollar of goods sold. It was around 20%. My son would have had to sell nearly $500 worth of junk to be part of the ice cream reward. I gave the school $250, and told them to make sure my son got ice cream with the rest.
But that’s about me giving. I had reasons, not just for my community, but directly for my family.
Paying it forward is helping someone with no expectation of any return or good coming to you or yours. You ask them to help someone else out, sometime in the future, when they can.
With the government shutdown, friends of the family were hurting a bit more than usual. They only get around $60/month in SNAP because they “don’t qualify” for any more. They haven’t looked into how to get that increased because they are embarrassed to be on assistance.
We found out and as a family decided they needed help and that we would provide that help. Most of what we provided came from our stores, some came from purchases. A neighbor heard we were doing this and pitched in some cash.
The recipient has a gluten allergy, so pasta and such were out.
- 10# dried beans
- 10# white rice
- A flat of canned tuna
- A flat of canned chicken
- A flat of canned turkey
- 6 cans of beans
- 3# of short ribs
- 1# of rib roast
- 1 15# turkey
- 2# of sugar
- Gluten free brownie mix
- Misc. canned vegetables
To this we added eggs, milk, fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, frozen vegetables, and some other stuff, plus the cash from the neighbor.
That is not a complete list, but it gives an idea. When we got there and started bringing things in, we found her fridge was empty of everything except condiments. Her pantry was just as empty.
She will do the right thing. Because she understands, this is around two months worth of food for her, minus the weekly things like eggs.
Our total out-of-pocket cost for this gift was less than $50 because we are always adding to our stores. I get a flat of canned something every month. During this time of year, we pick up cheap turkey and fill freezers with it. We would have given her a ham as well, but she doesn’t like ham.
Our neighbor gave cash, which covered the fresh food and still gave her spending cash she would not have had any other way.
Yes, your taxes are taken from you at gunpoint to be given to both undeserving and deserving people. Don’t stop there. Make it personal. There is somebody in need in your community. Somebody that can use a hand up and isn’t looking for a handout.
Find that family. Give a little of yourself. Pay it forward.