What Do You Get from Giving? (3 Things, Actually)

 

1. A sense of joy and purpose

While volunteering this year at a United Way Toys for Tots drive, I got to meet the families who were in need. I got to listen to their stories, hear about their kids, and then send them home with a car full of toys and food. I was not the major donor of the event, nor was I an event coordinator—I merely showed up for my scheduled shift and was immediately blown away by the impact that the event had on me.

I understood why the same volunteers had been showing up year after year to help over 3,000 families. I admired the students who volunteered next to me, as they quickly understood how they were giving back to their own communities. The only regret I had about sharing my day with these families was that I hadn’t found the organization earlier in my life.

The incredible sense of joy and purpose that comes from giving never ceases to amaze me. Find a cause that brings you joy, and then invite your friends. They are looking for the same thing you are—fulfillment in giving—and most people just need to be asked. If you are being asked to join a friend, make today a yes day. Your life might never be the same.

2. A greater connection to your community

Our foundation has always believed that you must take care of your own community first. So when we recently moved to Stuart, Florida, we went to the local United Way and asked them to identify the needs in our area and introduce us to some of the leaders who were making an impact. The conversation led us to a site visit at House of Hope, a food pantry that uses hunger as a hook to get people in the door. Once a person is there, the house immediately sits them down to talk about why they are hungry, and if there is anything they can do to help you get back on a better path—whether that’s looking at a new career or job skills training.

Why is this so important? When we wrap around services up front to families that are willing and able, we not only lift up the person and the family, we lift up our own community, too. A small amount invested in a family will save thousands of dollars of social service needs once they become self-sustaining.

When you take care of your own backyard, you’ll have a much greater sense of connection to your neighbors. So seek out food banks or soup kitchens in your community that provide services beyond the meals, ones that seek to fight poverty. Whether you have a little or a lot to give, helping your neighbors help themselves is one of the most rewarding things you’ll ever do.

3. New ideas—on how to solve the problems you care about

One of the best grants we ever gave was to a food bank, Second Harvest of Orlando, Florida. The return on our investment came not just from the immediate impact on the recipients of the gift, but from the innovative lessons we learned about ways to address hunger—lessons we can now apply to other projects.

At the time, our family lived in Orlando, and I had met with a group of leaders who were pitching our foundation on how to help the hunger problem in the area. It was a significant issue, especially given that one in four who are hungry in that city are under the age of 5. Since our foundation had been funding projects in this particular sector, we knew the issues and the programs pretty well. All the pitches were fairly standard—except for Second Harvest. It had identified that the food stamp office, where people went to sign up for benefits, was not on the bus line—which meant an awful trek for a family down on their luck. They often had to take three or four buses and walk up to five miles just to get to the office, which required many to take the day off of work.

SOURCE:success.com