Giving to Charity
Giving to Charity
We are all blessed to live in a giving community. Over the years, I have had the privilege of serving on several non-profit boards in Great Falls, including Community Help Line, Children’s Museum of Montana, Montana School for the Deaf and Blind Foundation, Great Falls Public Schools Foundation, and Benefis Health System Foundation. Our office has, for the last couple of years, selected a “charity partner” of the year. We worked with Special Olympics Montana in 2021, Meals on Wheels in 2022, and Family Promise of Great Falls in 2023. Our staff has participated in volunteer activities for the partner organization during the year, and our firm has made a monetary contribution at the end of each year. We soon will be announcing our charitable partner for 2024. In addition, my wife works for a charitable organization, so I have seen first-hand the difference that charitable giving makes to such organizations and the people they serve. Giving to charity in whatever manner or means you can, has the potential to touch the lives of many others for years to come.
It’s a Wonderful Life
I originally made mention of this in a post in December 2020, but it still holds true today. Thinking about all of this, and it being the holiday season, I can’t help but recall each year the classic movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life.” It is a great movie, and I intend to watch again this year. We can all recall Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey, the compassionate, but down on his luck businessman. Through the movie, George turns bitter, suicidal and abusive to his family, until he is shown by a guiding angel what life would have been if he never existed. Unlike the Scrooge-like Mr. Potter, who sees money only as a means to self-prosperity, George comes to understand and appreciate that money can be a means to create happiness for others. By doing just that, George is toasted as the “richest man in town.”
Sharing Of Yourself
My point in all of this is that by sharing of yourself – – donating money, whatever it might be that you can afford, and by giving some of your time to charity and charitable purposes, you enrich your own life and the lives of others by creating a happier, healthier and safer world. Now that IS wonderful!
Jon
