Thursday, December 23, 2010

Charitable Donations

I’ve always felt very strongly about donating to good causes. It’s not something I’ve ever planned in advance or done regularly, though this year I’ll probably donate out of my gift budget. If you’re giving to those less fortunate, wouldn’t you consider it a gift?

This Christmas a friend of mine and I decided that we would donate to the local food bank. It wasn’t a direct decision, it actually was a compromise.

Confession!
He was insistent on buying me a gift (he doesn’t gift small), and I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to reciprocate.
End Confession!

So rather than dealing with the awkwardness of the aforementioned situation, we agreed that we would pool a specified amount of money ($50), and make a joint Food Bank donation. This actually worked out quite well, as we were both comfortable with the donation, and it went to those less fortunate than either of us.

*cue warm fuzzy feeling*

We ended up going over budget when we bought the food, and ended up spending $60 each. Oops. But, we managed to get a ton of stuff!

We picked up:
  • Peanut Butter (x10)
  • Bags of Pasta (x10)
  • Jars of Pasta Sauce (x10)
  • Boxes of Macaroni and Cheese (x10)
  • Cans of Tuna (x10)
  • 10 Packs of  Instant Oatmeal (x10)
  • Cans of Baked Beans (x10)

The company I work at had donation boxes set up on each floor, so we decided to donate it through my office (convenient). Instead of dumping it all in the box though, I set it all up in my office for my coworkers to see. Then I challenged them to beat us! They did. I went around collecting money from the floor to buy more food for the hamper. Afterwards, to keep the momentum going, our department donated a pair of hockey tickets to be raffled off to earn more money. Then the managers were challenged to make donations equal to the money that had been earned from the raffle. All total, between the food that was brought in, the raffle, and the donations we managed to get out of our managers, our floor in the building donated over $1000 to the Edmonton Food Bank. It was the biggest donation anyone at the company had ever seen. Not bad for $60.

I don’t know about you guys, but that feels so much better than a Christmas gift.


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