There are several important things about today: it’s the first day of the last month of 2015! It’s Giving Tuesday! It’s World AIDS Day! It’s a NEW day!
Giving Tuesday has gained some popularity in the last several years – for many it’s a reminder of fast approaching holiday gift-buying, and for some, the continuation of what Black Friday, Cyber Monday, etc. have provided already. It is also for those organizations who will advertise the hashtag and benefit from $5 here or $20 there to a particular non-profit or volunteer group. Giving Tuesday is a great time to evaluate which topics in your wheelhouse could benefit from a donation of time, money or support.
With a daily barrage of unpleasant and upsetting news topics about greed, intolerance and coldness to fellow human beings, #GivingTuesday is a nice reprieve. One can seek out a group within your own community to help, look up a non-profit who dedicates their organization to causing change for the better. One of my favorite kinds of support, mostly to strangers, comes through crowd-funding sites which allow people to raise personal funds, funds for creative projects and pledging sites which have a minimum amount of support required for projects to be endorsed. I have seen amazing and creative projects through these platforms and a $10 donation can go a long way once thousands of people are doing it.
World AIDS Day is dedicated to spreading awareness about HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), the infection which causes AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome), and mourning those who have lost their lives to the disease. Every year sine 1988, December 1st has marked this remembrance and awareness-building day. Find out more here. I am not sure how purposeful those who first trended #GivingTuesday meant for it to align with a worldwide issue which needs everyone to be more giving of education, awareness and understanding, but I think it is very fitting.
I encourage you today to extend yourself to a friend, a stranger, a group, a cause, a topic – anything that can benefit from your help.
#GivingTuesday should humble us all to think about something bigger than ourselves. Make it a great one.
Burgess Adventures 