Tag: tikkun olam

What do you see?

It is me sporting an American Red Cross lapel pin saying, I am a proud volunteer with a great organization and I am asking you to join me.   The American Red Cross is a wonderful humanitarian organization devoted to helping people in need during times of crisis. 

I am part of the Disaster Spiritual Care team. I was deployed to help the people of Pittsburgh in the wake of the shooting.  Every time there is a need, from house fire to conflagration, from minor flooding to hurricanes, from natural to man-made disasters, the American Red Cross is there.  And we need more help.

As a volunteer, you will be trained to share in the amazing work we do.  It is an incredible way to give back to your home community, in my case the Jewish community, or wherever the need might take you.  It is a wonderful and rewarding experience.  Please join me. Go online at your local American Red Cross chapter to begin the process.  JOIN US!

Giving Tuesday- The day-after Challenge

givetuesday_700xOn Giving Tuesday, almost everyone in the philanthropic world asked for your financial support. Giving money is extremely important, but enduring change requires great effort we cannot relegate only to others. Permanent change requires each of us to roll up our sleeves and get involved.

I remember when I decided to get back into shape; buying the treadmill was not enough, working out on the treadmill created the change I sought. Learning the piano required time at the keyboard learning and practicing, not merely buying the instrument. Dieting required a fundamental change in how I approach food, not simply a weeklong restriction on the intake. Philanthropy is likewise.

To create real change in the world, we need to give money to the causes we believe in but also help to implement the changes we hope to see. For too long we have sloughed off the real work of change to the professionals. By providing the financial support we thought we had fulfilled our responsibility. However, there is more to do. Success comes when change becomes the new normal. This is an organic process, from the bottom up. Change is rarely sustainable when it is imposed from the outside. The new normal only happens when we all embrace it as our own.

So I hope you gave generously on Giving Tuesday because your financial support makes the work possible. Now commit to giving of yourself as well to that cause you believe in so the work becomes a reality. We are the change we want to see. It cannot happen without each of us.