Giving Has Never Been More Important … Never More Needed
And here it is, GivingTuesday, that proposed counterpoint to the excesses of the year end and Black Friday, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Slotted in between these commercial antagonists to at least give a progressive option in among the behemoths.
And this year, more than any other year given the well-documented global travails that have and continue to beset us all, taking a moment to stop and give has become more important than ever before, because non-profits have never had it easy, have had to struggle for every penny and make miracles work on an inclement, uncertain shoestring. So the year’s hardship comes thick and fast atop a sector which has for years been making difficult and imperfect decisions about what is most important and what – often tragically – has to be left to one side.
Since the named day began, there has perhaps been no GivingTuesday as important as this one. Every cent and dollar and peso and pound is crucial to real, coal-face projects and programs, and this year not just for the work itself, but as a lifeline to keeping them alive.
Youth education supported by Ninth Wave’s branch in Mexico.
Giving this Tuesday – or at any other time – is oxygen, pure and simple, and – what’s more – it’s an act of solidarity which makes the argument for the kind of societies we want for ourselves, and our children. All these programs are essential – and I mean all. Anything we do which is not for ourselves is fundamental. If not who we are, it is surely the model of society we all live in our best dreams.
And before or after you give, if you are able, send an email, speak to someone at the organization you are supporting – hear their voice, have them tell you about their day-to-day, their hopes, fears, enduring existential angsts which keep them awake at night; angsts about inequality, or rights, or pollution, or just the sheer state of our world in play. Offer yourself up to get a window into the soul of that someone – that real anyone – who offsets fear daily and forces themself to trade in hope just to be able to take in the next breath, in order to continue doing. Get to the lungs and nervous system and – yes – the heart of the thing.
It needs you. We need you.
Please consider a donation to Plastic Oceans International, supporting their work to end plastic pollution and foster sustainable communities worldwide. DONATE HERE.
Jon Bonfiglio works in sustainability with Ninth Wave Global and covers news & environment for a variety of media outlets internationally.