The Yearly Giving Post

Every year, I write about giving. This is the time of year most of us think about it, so it seems appropriate to write about it during the holidays. Guess what? This year's no different! Yay!

Have I told you my new favorite way to give? I don't think I have. Every time I go to the grocery store from whenever I think to start doing it (usually early November) through to Christmas, I pick up a $.99 toothbrush (usually a Crest one) and a $1.07 tube of toothpaste (usually Aim). An extra $2.06 to our shopping cart. Get them home and unpack them into a grocery bag hanging on the back of the guest bathroom door. 

It doesn't matter if we are doing a full on shopping, or just grabbing eggs, I buy the toothbrush and toothpaste. By the end of December, I have a lot of toothbrushes and toothpaste behind our door. Sometime between Christmas and New Year, I will take that bag over to whichever local organization is helping my community's homeless.

Here's the thing though: it doesn't have to be toothbrushes. It can be a box of mac and cheese, a jar of peanut butter, a box of tampons, a thing of deodorant (what are those called? tubes isn't right...dispenser...? digressing...) 

Sure, it's late in the season to create much critical mass ~ but it's not too late. Hell, it's never too late. If you buy a single toothbrush, I promise you, your local shelter or charity will appreciate it. But, if you want to do more than that, buy one something every time you go to the grocery or drugstore between now and New Years. Every. Single. Time. First, I bet you'll be surprised how often you shop. Second, you'll create a nice little bag of important stuff. For less than $2.50 a pop.

Regardless of what you celebrate, isn't taking care of each other, loving each other, and being good to one another kind of the point? You don't have to write huge checks or attend galas or smother an adopted family with presents. You can buy a toothbrush. Whatever you can do. Trust me, it matters. 

Those are Pobble Thoughts. That and a buck fifty will get you coffee.