Saturday is the day we share your stories about giving to others.
Please write in and tell us about what you do for others. Tell us about your acts of kindness and how helping others makes you feel. Do you spend time caring for aging parents or ill relatives? Do you volunteer in a soup kitchen, at a school, a nursing home or a pet shelter? Work in your community garden, at your local library, clearing litter from the side of the road? Add your story in the comment section in the upper right of this post.
Today’s post is from Kelly Spencer.
“Through a reconnection via Facebook, a high school friend started working at Provisions, our local food pantry. She posted a list of items needed asking her friends to please donate, so I stopped by the pantry to make a donation the week before Thanksgiving, they were overwhelmed with clients, so I got trained in 10 minutes and given my first family to help them shop…now I’m there every Tuesday and love my new job! My 16 year old daughter came with me over Christmas break, she was a huge help crating eggs, stocking shelves and is planning on joining me this summer. I am amazed how much our local farmers and private owned grocery store donates to keep our pantry going! I have been truly blessed to have been given the opportunity to spend my Tuesdays and my boss makes sure I’m off on Tuesdays to volunteer! This is the coolest thing I have ever done!”
Kelly thank you for taking the time to share your story and fabulous picture with us!
While we’re on the subject of sharing and volunteering, we want to tell you about a site that is devoted to women and philanthropy –Vivanista. Coincidentally, this week they have an excerpted a section from Bitches on a Budget about volunteering. Check it out.
I am an “over the top”(some people would say) animal lover! I am from Carlsbad Ca. but moved to Ensenada mx to take care of my Mother who has a home there for the last several yrs.Since I moved here (5yrs ago) I have been also caring for the Homeless, starvng animals throughout my area, on a daily basis.I feed, spay/neut./build man made shelters and try and find loving homes for these lost souls whenever possible.However, In the beginning I had a secured income(caregiving for an elderly gentleman) but last July 2009, he sadly passe away.For the last 7 months it has been a major struggle to continue affording the costs of taking care of these sweet abandoned animals. As it is I struggle every week trying to figure out each day what i can do work-wise to make $ to pay my rent and utilities,let alonecontinue affording to care for the animals.It is a Bitch to say the least, but I put them first, and would never turn my back on them,they depend on me. I pull up everyday,junkyard,segunda.back of liquor stores, and they run up to me ,so happy to see me (my Bliss) and then I have to drive away(my Bitch)Currently I have had to sellI personal items (bed tv) to buy food for them, and have been living off peanut butter and jelliey sandwiches for alot longer than i want to admit.I have been blessed w/guardian angels here on FaceBook recently and their support has been unbelievable. I will soon be having my mother move in w/me (she suffers from early stages of Demencia) and much of my time will be spent caring fo her, which will limit time for me to find work to make the money to continue buying the food for the animals. Iwill do though whatever it takes to succeed in this cause for them. If I may ask of you “Bitches” please put them in your prayers and strength for me as that could result in a very “Blissful” thing Thank you for taking the time to read this
God Bless and Be Kind to Animals Please
Lisa
As an esthetician, I have the God-given talents to help others look and feel better about their appearance. As an esthetician who has lost two immediate family members to cancer, I want to give to others struggling with their illness and hopefully make them feel a little better in the process. Thus, the reason I volunteer my services to conduct the American Cancer Society’s, Look Good Feel Better classes in my community. My services include teaching patients to apply makeup donated by caring companies, that conceals the effects of chemotherapy and radiation treatments. It’s amazing what teaching a woman how to correctly draw an eyebrow, where one once grew, can do for her self-confidence! Also, I teach them about proper skincare during their treatment periods and how to help make it look, and feel normal.
As a Bitch on a Budget, and a single mother, I have tightened my, already tight, financial belt, to the point that my contributions to charities were getting smaller. However, volunteering my time to LGFB fills that void. Teaching LGFB actually gives me a spiritual uplift when I see these beautiful, strong women smiling, laughing and leaving the classes with newfound confidence in their appearance, and attitudes toward fighting their cancer. I leave knowing they are going to beat their cancers too! If anything, I am the one who leaves with a new feeling of self-worth, and to these heroic women, I am thankful.
So, while I was looking to give back to my community during tight times, it is giving back to me too!
Emma Bains
I’m definitely a big Bitch on a Budget. Even though I do have a kind of tough exterior, I do like to give back in what little ways I can. I’ll purge my hygeine product stash & cabinets for Food Drives. I actually spent a week shopping my local grocery store’s sales with coupons and was able to get $260 worth of staples for a net of $6.75. Here’s the link to how I did it:
http://bargainbecky.blogspot.com/search/label/Food%20Pantry%20Challenge
I’m also a big advocate of blood donation. Why? I don’t know. I’ve never personally been a recipient of a blood transfusion or have known someone close to need one – but since the husband and myself really can’t drop large checks to charity, we try to give in ways that aren’t monetary in nature. For me, it’s donating blood. If you plan it out right, you can donate blood up to 6 times per year. I’m going to try to hit 6 donations this year. Sure, it’s not much, but you can’t buy blood and so many people (in this country and abroad) need blood – especially when you are a funky O type like myself.
All the proceeds from my site, http://mzsardonicus.redbubble.com go to City Meals on Wheels. That is where I sell my photography.
I also plan to join the local community garden and I recycle.
My contribution toward “giving back” to the community is by being supportive of cancer research.I have walked every year and donated yearly to the “making strides” against breast cancer, sponsored by the American Cancer Society. This year, I can do something different!
I have been blessed with the opportunity to become a Miche bag consultant, and Miche bag has blessed us with a way to reach out on a larger scale, by releasing the “HOPE” shell. $5.00 will be donated to Huntsman cancer institute for cancer research.
I will be saving a portion of my own proceeds from the sale of the HOPE shell this year, to donate to the Making Strides against breast cancer walk. This allows me to make a difference in two ways, and I’m very excited about it! After all, you never know if you’re “paying forward”.
I also support animal rescue and spay and neuter efforts. Animals are a very important part of my life, and always will be a personal treasure!
My friends and I recently organized a benefit sale for a little boy who is needing a liver transplant! We took donations from the public, cleaned organized, and sold them! We made over 1400 dollars for the family to help with costs!