Put time, effort toward charity

There are plenty of things that there are just not enough of. Money, time and food are some of the things I can't shake out of my brain. Too bad, as the acquisition of these things tends to feed the greedy hunger of capitalism that every John and Jane Doe taught their children to embrace. It's not a totally bad thing because it drives us to be great, but we've got to make sure we haven't lost anything along the way-the spirit of charity, for instance.

I think it's telling that as a society, we celebrate those who have excesses of scarce things. There's the ultra-wealthy businessman, the socialite media darling and heck, we even have celebrity chefs.

However, could you name one of the most generous people in the world? For those of you thinking Bill Gates, don't say it-at least not because of money he's donated. It takes a lot more than signing a check. In fact, in my own way of promoting an earlier holiday season, I'll say putting a dollar in your little sister's hand and telling her to put it in Santa's red pot during Christmas doesn't count as charity.

The point I am getting at is that the spirit of giving has to do more with the energy, sweat and effort of your contribution rather than its monetary value. We've all seen the human-interest stories that are tacked onto the end of local news broadcasts, ones that introduce the wonderful family that has adopted a dozen kids to give them the loving family.

Too bad the story passes in one ear and out the other, and in an hour, you've forgotten all about it. Instead of forgetting, we should be celebrating these people for the sacrifices they have made to quietly give a life and an opportunity to their adopted children.

Now, as students, no one is expecting you to go and become a foster parent or leave school and spend the rest of your life working in a soup kitchen. What I'm really talking about is cutting a little time out of your life to provide a helping hand to those who might need it. Community service is one example. Those of you participating in a service organization, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

I was once asked by a mother for tips on getting her children to commit to their community service requirements that they needed for high school. It dawned on me that the very genuine act of getting kids involved with community service is a concept some kids are growing up seeing as a chore. The simple act of community service needs to be sprinkled with a sugary coat of one's high school diploma to become palatable, to be sampled once and never again.

Now, I'll be the first to admit that Tech isn't the easiest environment to find time to volunteer, but I have heard that some of us have found free time every once in a while. For fear of sounding like a kindergarten teacher, even giving a little bit can make a difference.

If you can work at a food pantry once a month, great. If you see someone holding a food drive, don't stop and think what a good idea this person had, make sure you return and at least drop off a can of soup. You don't even have to do anything to donate blood, and the nurses provide free snacks afterwards. Make sure to remember to donate in the summer, because people tend forget to donate when snow and Christmas specials are no longer on the TV.

Even raising money is a good idea. Just make sure you're not looking to get some kind of recognition for it, because that's not the point. Don't be so self-serving.

If you do think I'm wrong and have come up with counterpoints to all my examples, try simply helping your parents, or whomever raised you, do chores around the house. Not just because you know its your responsibility, but because they're getting older and might need extra help once in a while.

Now I want to end this editorial on a positive note, so I'll finish off by thanking those who are living up to this spirit of giving. Those of you participating in BOPSOP, Habitat for Humanities, TEAM Buzz and all the other organizations on the community service page of Tech, I want to thank you and hope you keep doing what you're doing. For all the other organizations that don't get that kind of publicity and are still fighting the good fight, this congratulations goes out to you too.

However for the rest of us, let's not let the spirit of charity die with the last words of this editorial. If you're doing something now, keep at as long as you are able. If you haven't quite gotten around to doing anything yet, let today be the day you put some thought into asking what you can do, and perhaps you can put those ideas into motion.