How Fast Life Can Change

Loading my car with donations for families impacted by the floods in Baton Rouge.

Loading my car with donations for families impacted by the floods in Baton Rouge.

In my previous blog post I discussed how the schools and churches that I attended influenced my background on giving. However, it was not until after graduating from college that I realized the true impact that my giving can have on individuals. There is nothing comparable to seeing the eyes of a recipient of your gifts to truly understand the impact.

After finishing school, I went to work assisting with natural disasters (mainly wildfires). My first job was as a Wildland Firefighter with the National Park Service.  That summer I worked in Southeastern Arizona and participated on a few prescribed burns, but unfortunately I never really got the wildland firefighting experience I imagined. It was 2004 and towards the end of the fire season, I was asked to work for a company that cleaned up debris as a result of natural disasters. That year 4 Hurricanes hit Florida: Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne. The choice to accept the job was easy, the pay was great and I had student loans. What I did not expect from that job was seeing first-hand the impact of loss on real families with real kids and their real belongings.

I grew up in New Orleans and we always faced the threat of the “Big One”, but managed to survive a lot of near misses. As chance would have it, the following year I moved back to New Orleans and before accepting a new job in North Carolina. A few months later, Hurricane Katrina was heading directly towards New Orleans and my family and I evacuated to Houston with a few belongings – fully expecting to return in a few days.

The good news is that my family was safe. The bad news, as you know, is that Hurricane Katrina was the “Big One”. Family and friend’s homes were flooded and upon returning to gather salvageable belongings, the houses looked like a drained muddy water snow globe. First hand, I was able to witness friends and families outside of New Orleans lend a helping hand. What I did not anticipate was the help from complete strangers sending clothes, toys, toiletries, and other everyday items I typically take for granted.

Needless to say, Hurricane Katrina changed my life and outlook in giving. One thing that stands out to me is my family photo albums.  My family photos were lost in the flooding so it looks like none of us existed before 2005. Since then, I make donations to organizations in need on a regular basis. I now have kids of my own and when natural disasters strike, we try to send either money or items based on need to those affected.

While on vacation several years ago my brother-in-law half-jokingly came up with a smartphone app so that busy people, without cash or check, can donate with the touch of a finger. Welcome – Pass the Plate.

Over time I would like to teach my kids to do the same; donate in any way you can – money, time, physical goods – there are so many ways you can donate that will make a difference! Donate directly to a local charity. Donate to disaster relief. Send water or school items to an area hit by flooding. Send blankets and food to an area devastated by wildfires. Your donations will have a greater impact than you can ever imagine.

Donations do not always need to be financial, look around your community and ask yourself – What can I do to help?

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How Experience Influenced My Views On Charitable Giving

Sticker-BlogMy name is Brian Hemel and I am a Co-Founder of Pass the Plate. I grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana and was fortunate to attend a Catholic church and school. Like most kids growing up in the southeast, I attended a weekly Sunday service, really not wanting to go.  During those services I would go through the motions and could not wait for the service to be over.

A few times a year however, a service or two would catch my attention. A visiting priest or missionary would speak to us about their community, the supplies they needed and how our community could help. These visitors usually spoke in choppy English so I had to pay special attention in order to understand them. Afterward, the community would rally together to send various types of donations based on the need.

Similar to donations collected in the church, in my elementary school we would be given a cardboard bank to help raise money during mission week. As a second grader my goal was not always to raise money for the mission but to beat the other classes so my class could be rewarded. Each year, donations were raised for a specific group, usually in a foreign country, and we would never hear about fundraising efforts until the following year. Whether it was through school or the church, I really did not understand what the whole giving thing was about or really how “my” donation was going to help.

As I got older my views on giving started to change. Specifically, I remember in 6th grade, my class collected toys and delivered them to the children’s ward at a local hospital. Each student brought in a toy, geared towards a specific patient, and we were able to hand deliver the present to that patient. To most of these patients, this was the only gift they would receive that year. To see the smiles on their faces was something I will never forget. This was the first time that I actually saw what giving to others could accomplish first hand. I learned that giving is not always financial, not always a competition, and can be just as rewarding for the giver as the recipient.

The high school I attended stressed being a “Man for Others”. We continued the tradition of collecting money during mission week but what really stood out to me was being a “Man for Others”, especially during the Thanksgiving Week. Before high school I took it for granted that food was going to be on the table, and selfishly thought that everyone else enjoyed the same type of celebration. Each homeroom adopted several families to deliver food to over the holiday. We collected food and the money collected was used to purchase enough food to feed each adopted family for a week. The Wednesday before Thanksgiving, members of each homeroom would fill boxes with all of the food collected and purchased. After a quick mass, we would deliver each basket to the adopted family. The families that received the baskets were often speechless and could not thank us enough. This showed me how lucky I am and that I should not take anything that I have for granted.

After high school, I attended a college whose motto was “Learn in Order to Serve”. As a college student, raising money was not as easy, but community service was something everyone could participate in. As a new student, one way the college greeted new students was to participate in Move a Mountain Day. Student groups would perform community service off campus by painting, working with the elderly, trail maintenance, picking up trash, etc. This not only let new students learn about the place they would be spending the next four years, but also serve the community that would support and surround them during their stay.

In closing, there are many ways in which you can donate. You can donate through Pass the Plate or directly to countless non-profits that are helping support the disaster stricken communities around the world. Remember, donations do not always need to be financial, look around your community and ask yourself – What can I do to help?

Do you have a personal story or experience that has shaped your giving? Please share with us on Facebook or Twitter!

 

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