[just me]

In addition to Amazon Smile (which I think is great), often I get asked at the grocery if I would like to 'round up for...' I generally say yes as the grocery is usually donating to a food pantry or similar.It seems many big name stores are also willing to donate to charity a tiny percentage of what we spend. Seems a waste to not sign up for this since it costs us nothing.

There is, however, one type of charity I would like to encourage everyone to donate to. A real life person. Giving money is wonderful, but it's impossible to see the effect the donation has.

I frequently find myself being spoken to by complete strangers, often older than myself when I am out and about. Often I find what they approach me with a bit odd. Today I was buying a 30 pack of beer among other things at a dept store and while waiting in line at the pharmacy this older man said 'Well that is a great Christmas present!'. Being a bit daft I just looked at him and said 'What is?' Once I got what he was saying I realized he was just trying to make conversation. I replied, 'well for me xmas is every day'. He belly laughed and I decided to step out of line, sit next to him and just chat for a bit.

To me this is a personal form of charity where the donation is time, attention and a sincere effort to be fully present with another human. So many of us find ourselves lonely and just want another human to donate a few minutes of our time. I always come away from these experiences feeling my perspective has been broadened.