Have you watched the movie Pay it Forward? It is about a young boy who’s taken his Social Studies assignment seriously of doing something to change the world and putting it to action. It invokes the notion of paying a favor not back, but forward. In other words, it is repaying good deeds not right back to the person, but new good deeds done to three new people. The assistance given to someone who direly needs of it will significantly reform and transform that person. This is where the act of charity comes in. Charity comes from one good deed – a benevolent feeling followed by a generous action to aid the helpless, in need or in disfavor. Take, for example, Princess Diana, whose charity works involve health-related matters that even cross the borders of traditional royal involvement, including AIDS and leprosy. She patronizes charities and organizations working with the homeless, youth, drug addicts and elderly. Royalty is utilizing its position and prominence to have a louder voice of change, such as one done by Princess Hissa Al-Sha’alan, spouse of Kind Abdullah. She promotes an eye-opener message to her people that the Arab woman can contribute effectively in her society and produce promising generations. Furthermore, charity works involve a contribution, may it be money or in kind, the most selfless of all – time. When you devote your time to aiding the helpless, it is as if you are imparting a portion of your life to them. For instance, Mother Teresa, who spent most of her life ministering the poor, sick, orphaned and dying and of whom founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India. With approximately 610 missions in 123 countries, including hospitals and homes for people with HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis, children’s and family counseling programs, orphanages, and schools, she was internationally famed as a humanitarian and advocate for the poor and helpless.

Charity work and giving of donations aren’t only for royalty, celebrity or saint. It may be a duty or a passion, but one thing’s certain, it is for the betterment of the world. Various charitable main causes are cited below.

Animals

Aside from animal shelters and sanctuaries, a wider scope of animal charities is present that are beyond practical care, such as research, campaign awareness and preserving habitats. Domestic and wild animals can extremely benefit from your donations such as being involved in a sponsorship program, investing in the campaign for preservation, or research.

Environment

Survey tells us that environmentalism is underfunded. The reason why the environmental charitable organizations weren’t around for long because before, climate change and other environmental issues weren’t still present. Now, it is the time to be aware and take action to what is plaguing the environment as to support organizations for climate change and sustainability such as Greenpeace, The Green Alliance, Friends of the Earth and a lot more.

Cancer

Fighting cancer would mean supporting research and treatment; being involved in advice and care to the victims. Raising awareness is more important than it sounds as this keeps cancer high on the government’s health agenda. This in turn can encourage people to be mindful of early signs of cancer and bring hope to the patients.

Children

Children are innocent and vulnerable. They need all the help they can get to be protected, cared for, and guided. Preventing cruelty and abuse, care for disadvantaged children, their illness and disability are a few of the main concerns charitable organizations are attending to. To name some, The Children’s Society focuses on street children, the disabled and refugees; YMCA provides accommodation, sports facilities and childcare.

Human Rights

Human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. However, this wasn’t always the case for all nations. That is why organizations such as Amnesty International help promote this sentiment by investigating abuses and carries out a high profile campaigning.

You may not be connected in any charitable institution, but you can still do a good amount of selfless acts to people. After all, a man’s true wealth hereafter is the good that he does in this world to his fellows.

So in what way can a certain individual exercise the act of charity? Well, there are numerous ways and money is a very good example. Cash’s donations are obviously a form of donation that is very common in the society. This is most likely seen in times of natural calamities. During these times, money is definitely needed for continuing supply of food, water, and clothing especially to the typhoon-struck victims in the community. Money is badly needed in order to mobilize the rescue units that provide much needed help that the victims appropriately need help including medical attention for victims with severe illness and dehydration. Cash’s donations are also seen in instances wherein families can’t afford medical treatment of their loved ones and as a last resort, seek help through media to ask for cash donations for the operation to be possible.

Another way wherein an individual can exercise the act of charity is by donating themselves in the form of labor. A person can subject himself or herself to offer in helping the relief goods to be packed for its distribution during natural calamities. Offering yourself for service by donating your time in helping the rescue team to allocate the resources to the victims of the calamities is very important for the whole rescue mission to be a success. Although money is not involved in the issue, additional workforce is definitely needed to make things work faster and help more victims as much as possible. By offering service, you thereby exercise the act of charity. In addition to the abovementioned acts that foster charity, offering as simple as prayers to your loved ones and to the people in your community can also be considered as a form of exercising charity. It may be in the spiritual aspect, but it does not mean you are not helping to promote the betterment of their status. Prayers are powerful weapons and give individuals the emotional strength needed to face the trials that life gives them. You can therefore, say that you are lifting the situation up to the good Lord Jesus Christ and just let Him lead the way.

When talking about charity and donation, what better way to perform these generous acts than by doing these in Christmas? You see Christmas is about giving rather than receiving. It is about allowing less fortunate people to experience the joy and spirit of the holiday season by putting a smile on their faces through donating some of your old clothes in the closet and giving young children old toys for them to play with. Just like many people would say, “Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year”. This holds very true since the spirit of love and giving are evident in the season most especially in the eyes of the children sleeping along the pavements. Let us always be reminded that Christmas is about love and a way of expressing love is by being charitable to the people whom needs help and care from individuals who are capable of giving.

If you are given a chance to be in a position to help other people, then do help them without any form of hesitation whatsoever. Socio-economic status is definitely not a hindrance for a person to be involved in charity. No matter how small and how simple a thought of kindness and generosity is, the important thing is that the intention of performing such an act is driven by the principle of charity. If everyone will conform and perform the act of charity, then most probably the world will be a much better place.

Every second of every day, a lot of individuals worldwide depend upon their survival on blood transfusions and although the reasons may differ, nothing can change the fact that the demand for blood is rising and ubiquitous. Not to mention the growing number of injuries and accidents requiring blood transfusions all across the world.

Over 39,000 units of blood each day are required in hospitals and for urgent situations to meet the needs of accident victims, surgical and trauma patients, oncology patients on chemotherapy, kidney failure patients and children with diseases. And since red cells last only about 35 days while the platelets only five days, there is a constant need of blood supply.

Who are qualified to donate blood?

You are most probably eligible to give blood if you are a healthy person with no known blood borne infections and weigh at least 110 pounds. The age limit may vary from country to the country. However, the general range is from 17 to 65 years old. On the other hand, you are not allowed to donate blood if either your own health suffers as a result of blood donation or your donated blood causes harm to the recipient of the blood. It is not advisable to give blood on the following instances:

• You are feeling sick and weak, have a sore throat, flu and colds.
• You are pregnant or breastfeeding.
• You have recently undergone a surgery or a minor procedure and not yet fully recovered.
• You are taking some medications, for example, antibiotics.
• Have certain serious illnesses like anemia or low iron level, sickle cell disease, Diabetes, low or high blood pressure, multiple sclerosis, Heart diseases, Lyme’s disease and epilepsy.
• You have acquired a recent sexually transmitted disease (HIV or syphilis), or you have sexual contact with more than one sexual partner.
• You have a tattoo, ear or any body piercing and skin scarification.
• You have injected recreational, non-medicinal or illegal drugs.
• You can’t tolerate the sight of needles.

Blood Donation is somewhat an easy procedure and a quick process, which takes a little over an hour and requires minor preparations. It can be achieved in four easy steps as follows: registration, medical history taking, blood extraction and snacks. The registration involves filling up a few pertinent details on the registration form. During the medical history taking, you need to answer honestly screening questions to determine if you are qualified as a donor. Temperature, blood pressure and hemoglobin are all checked as well as a blood sample is extracted to ensure that your blood meet minimum standards. After thorough screening and approval that you are fit as a blood donor, your blood will be drawn and processed to save the life of someone in need. Usually less than 10% of your total blood volume is taken from you, and you do not need to worry at all because your body is capable of replacing the lost fluid within 36 hours. To end the process, the donor is usually given snacks to serve as an ‘instant energy’ to the donor without any cost. The whole process is entirely safe as nobody ever contracted any disease by merely donating his or her blood.

Giving Blood as a Gift

Volunteering to give blood, unlike any other gifts you can give, can never be bought by money. It is one of the noblest acts as it can save people’s lives. It feels good to know that with just half a liter of donated blood, you have the opportunity to help save as many as three people’s lives in exchange of experiencing a slight discomfort as the needle is inserted. Besides, donating blood can save your own life too as studies show that blood donations are strongly associated with a reduced risk of heart attack in adult men. A similar study supported this finding affirming that men who gave blood experienced 30 percent fewer incidents of heart disease, stroke and bypass surgery in comparison to those non-donors.

The gift of voluntarily giving blood is truly an unselfish and humane act that can make a positive difference in someone else’s life. Anybody can be a hero by giving a gift of blood that can last a lifetime. So what are you waiting for? Donate blood, save a life and make it a habit.