There are copious worthy charities that we can all choose from this Christmas season.
Often people will give to health-related charities in memory of a loved one who died from a specific disease. Examples include the American Heart Association, Mended Hearts, the American Cancer Society and Susan G. Komen for the Cure (for cancer). St. Jude’s Children’s hospital is a popular choice. Their slogan captures the essence of their charitable services: “Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food — so they can focus on helping their child live.”
There are charities that feed the hungry like your local food bank or those that specifically feed seniors like Meals on Wheels. Food insecurity and hunger is a growing problem in Hawaii that ranks among the highest in the nation. In light of last year’s devastating Lahaina fires, the Maui Food Bank reports high demand for food.
In Hawaii, there are individuals who are facing the hardships of homelessness. Charities like the Institute for Human Services (IHS) help vulnerable individuals who often struggle to find shelter, food, and support. It’s well known for its dedication to supporting Hawaii’s homeless population.
Churches and faith-based organizations are often providers of various charitable efforts. The Catholic Church through Catholic Charities of Hawaii provides a wide range of social services that serves over 40,000 individuals each year. They are currently providing Maui relief, senior services, housing assistance, counseling for mental health, immigration and citizenship assistance, among others.
Within our own Hawaii Filipino community there are charities doing invaluable work like the Bayanihan Clinic Without Wall (BCWW) which provides free medical and dental healthcare to immigrants, indigent locals and the homeless without health insurance. For those wanting to extend help to our ancestral homeland the Philippines, the Ohana Medical Mission (OMM) is a charity of choice. OMM travels to underserved areas in the Philippines and other developing nations, providing essential medical, dental, and surgical care to local residents.
There are charities for the promotion of the arts, human rights, disaster relief, environmental, children, senior, research, cultural, educational (scholarships), pro-bono law, animal rights, literacy, university, refugees and immigrant.
Arguably the most powerful charitable expression is direct charity to help someone you know – closely related or outside your core group – who are having perhaps financial difficulty due to a sudden job loss or temporary physical disability from an accident.
It’s also true that charitable acts do not always involve money or material assistance. Spending time with our kupuna-tatas-nanas who might be alone and lonely means more than you can imagine. Volunteer work will take time but not necessarily money. Volunteering in some cases goes farther than donating money.
If you’re really motivated there is the option of organizing a group charitable act like collecting canned food at your workplace or church for the local food bank or clothes for the local homeless shelter.
The digital age opens new opportunities for charitable work through crowdfunding.
Why give this holiday season
In the Gospels Jesus teaches us the importance of caring for our neighbors, helping to serve the most vulnerable groups. He teaches us to treat our neighbors with love, mercy and compassion. In what’s known as the greatest commandment: Matthew 22:34-40 states Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Saddcees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Perhaps there is no greater way to celebrate the arrival of our Lord in His birth on Christmas than to practice His teachings.
We might also be motivated by other non-religious reasons like a desire to uplift our communities by empowering others. People could be driven by a sense of social justice, a desire to help others in a society that can often leave people falling through the cracks, metaphorically. Some of us are humanitarians or activists who are motivated to bring dignity to others’ lives for the sake of improving the human condition.
Whatever your motivation might be, it’s clear that there is tremendous need all around us. Our lives are connected beyond ways we can see or comprehend. For example, why is it that when we do acts of charity and kindness, we feel a deep sense of gratification? There could be many reasons, but perhaps one of them, an inexplicable, almost metaphysical one, is that we are connected to each other. When we help others, we are also helping ourselves.
In the spirit of goodwill this season, we wish all of you, our readers and supporters, a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Christ is born and with us.
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