“Would you canvas for the Heart and Stroke Foundation?” As I approached retirement, I was cautioned, “People will assume you have time on your hands and they will ask you to do all kinds of volunteer work.” Their forecast is coming true. Perhaps I am conditioned to accept the request. There have been strokes and heart attacks in my family. Heart and Stroke is one of my wife’s favourite charities. I accept and a campaign kit is dropped off.
“Good evening. I am campaigning for the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Would you like to make a donation?” As I ring each doorbell and wait, I wonder what the reaction will be. When you are preparing supper for five hungry people and a stranger asks for yet another donation, it is a challenge to be civil, let alone charitable. I hope for a listening ear and a few minutes of their time. Perhaps they will make a donation.
Read Also
Ground rules for farm family communications
Establishing meeting ground rules can help your family find ways to communicate that work for your farm. Here are some…
Most people listen patiently to my pitch. Some invite me in while they search for their purse or wallet, and we chat while I write out a receipt. The largest donations come from people who have been affected by the disease. “My father died of a heart attack last month,” or, “My aunt had a stroke and is in a nursing home.” Situations that touch our lives motivate our charity. A few people turn me down and I respect their choice. I thank them and leave an information brochure.
In rural areas a small number of people support several institutions. As a bishop I met with church committees to discuss the cost of maintaining a church in a village or small town. People would tell me, “We not only donate to the church. We support the town hall, the skating rink, the curling rink, the ball diamond, the cemetery and the seniors’ centre. Sometimes we donate in several towns. We give our time and our money and there is only so much to go around.” I understand their dilemma. These buildings and institutions contribute to the quality of rural life. The residents want to keep them going but supporting them on fixed incomes or limited financial resources is a challenge. People often reach out with incredible generosity.
When Haiti, the poorest nation in the western world, was struck by a huge earthquake in January, the country was not prepared to deal with the challenge. They needed to quickly rescue people from the rubble and provide them with food, water and medical care. Canadians quickly responded and donated generously. The Canadian Government agreed to match donations made to most relief organizations.
Charity has been a human characteristic for a long time. In ancient Israel people were told not to take every sheaf of grain, every single olive or every grape when they were harvesting. They were to “leave a few for the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow.”
Harry Emerson Fosdick, an American preacher, wrote, “Money is a miraculous thing. It is your personal energy reduced to a portable form and endowed with power you yourself do not possess. It can go where you cannot go; speak languages you cannot speak; lift burdens you cannot touch with your fingers; save lives with which you cannot directly deal.”
The ancient monk, tired of feeding the hungry and finding beds for the homeless, lifted his prayers to heaven, “Must I keep giving and giving?” The angel replied, “Just give until God stops giving to you.”
Suggested Scripture: Deuteronomy 24:19-22, Matthew 6:19-21
Rod Andrews is a retired Anglican bishop. He lives in Saskatoon.
