Mittens and Gloves

Day 271: Mittens and Gloves

Sam's forum at Community High is collecting warm clothing for the St. Andrew's breakfast Thursday. I don't know what the St. Andrew's breakfast is, but I know that Sam's forum has given him many opportunities to serve and give.

"Christmas is at our throats again." This is how Arthur C. Brooks begins his OpEd piece in the New York Times this weekend about the commercialization of Christmas. I'm not sure that all our buying is in the spirit of generosity, either. As one of my friends joked on Facebook: "Almost done with my Christmas shopping! Now I just have to buy presents."

Giving Tuesday may be a partial antidote. What if we all resolved to give an equal amount outside our immediate circle of family and friends? For every dollar on stocking stuffers, what if I contributed a dollar to Food Gatherers? We might be ripe for broadening our definition of holiday giving: the University of Michigan set a Giving Tuesday goal of $1M and raised $3.2M in that one day.

Sam's forum did in fact collect money for Food Gatherers, a charity after my own heart. How can you not support Food Gatherers when one in seven people in Washtenaw County are hungry? I'm happy for him to take these mittens and gloves, and the down vest and coat I set aside a few weeks ago, for the warm clothes drive on Thursday. Tomorrow, he's staying after school to help the homeless, something a kid in his forum organized. Hoping we are on the right track.