Minimute wishes you happy holidays and reminds you of the importance of charity.
Help in your own way
Less fortunate people, homeless pets and wild animals need help urgently. Fortunately charity can be done in many different ways.
I don’t just want to donate money from my bank account. I’ve always been hard working so donating my spare time by working for a charity suits best for me. (I know extra work isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.)
Start with something small
Remember, that the donation doesn’t need to be massive, even small things can help. For example if you have some pet food in your home your pets don’t want to eat, give the food to your local animal shelter rather than throwing it away.
Use your own strenghts
When you are about to embark charity work but aren’t sure what to do think about your own strengths and ask charities what kind of help do they need.
If you can’t or don’t want to donate money or aren’t able to do specific charity work for some other reason, here’s some alternative ways to do charity.
If you are a good baker or good at knitting, sewing or crocheting you should definitely use your skills. Charities may need these skills when they organize cake sales or fairs or some other events where they need something to sell. Or you can organize a cake sale or sell handmade gifts at your workplace. (Tip: handmade gifts and cakes fly off the shelves a few weeks before Christmas.) Extra money raised can then be donated.
Wash your neighbours car or mow their lawn or plow snow from their driveway for a small fee you can then donate. As a bonus you’ll get a free workout :)
Do consumer surveys and donate money the survey companies pay you. Surveys (in Finland) pay usually something between $0,1-$5 per survey, but there are also special surveys that can pay as much as $60 per survey. Those special ones are seldom available and you have to pass strict selection process to enter.
Give a different (Christmas) gift this year. Especially if you aren’t sure what to give someone, do a charity donation for them.
My charity work in 2019
I managed to knit 48 pairs of children’s wool socks. I offered the socks to my local animal shelter so they could sell them, but they didn’t have any fairs coming soon. I donated the socks to the Salvation Army so they can give them to children that most need them. Some of that yarn I made the socks with was donated to me, so thanks to the donor :)
I also made 29 snuffle mats which I sold at my workplace. I spent about 290 hours making them and managed to raise 275€ (about $305) after I deducted the material costs. I donated the sum to my local shelter to pay for pet food, vet bills, and to fight against puppy mills.
In Finland we have a recycling system for drinking bottles and beverage cans. We pay a small deposit fee ($0,10-$0,50) when we purchase any drink and we get the deposit back when we return the empty bottles and cans back to the store. Over 90% of all bottles and cans are returned in Finland, but still some people just throw them away. When I’m walking Miki I usually pick them up when I find them and return them to our store to get the deposits. I raise between $20-$30 per year by doing this. And this really is free money up for grabs :)
Then I answered to consumer surveys and donated some of that money, don’t know how much exactly.
I made one 50€ (about $56) donation as a gift for a friend to a Finnish animal welfare organization SEY instead of buying something useless.
In addition I emptied my piggy bank and gave that money to my local shelter as well.
New year - fresh start
New years eve is also coming soon. If your dog is afraid of the fireworks please read this post.
Merry Christmas and happy new year 2020!
21.12.2019