Helping Others

Sometimes it surprises me when I hear about a family struggling and find that no one has offered to lend a hand.  We wanted to help raise awareness regarding needs and our ability, even with limited income, to help.  When my husband dropped our second grade daughter off at school today he looked back to see in horror that she slipped and fell walking in.  Right away several little girls and one teacher went to help her on her feet.  As children we seem to do this more instinctively than as adults.  We’ve all seen situations where we’ve jumped in to help and have wondered why others were just walking past.

I took an opportunity through social media to get feedback on how you help others aside from financial assistance.  I like the answers we heard.

When we can’t afford to help...   I understand that budgets are tight for all of us and certainly many of us can’t afford to write a check to help someone else, but there are many ways to help that don’t necessarily mean money out of the budget.  Here are some of the ideas we heard:

·         If you are retired or a stay at home parent you can offer to watch the kids for someone trying to find a job.  If they’re out of work they probably can’t afford childcare.

·         For those in business- Often the currently employed are at the top of the stack of resumes when hiring, but this doesn’t mean they are the most desirable, the most capable, or the most motivated.  ALWAYS give equal consideration to those not currently employed.  The fear is that they will more likely take a job even if it’s unsuitable because of desperation only to leave when something better comes along, but if we’re doing our jobs in researching candidates we should be able to find some real jewels in those out of a job. 

·         If you do repair work you have an amazing charitable opportunity.  If you spent just one lunch break a week to help someone with a repair they can’t afford you would be doing an amazing service to your community.  Even better, with a few phone calls you may find a parts company willing to assist your efforts by providing assistance with parts.  If not, we bet someone in the community would help cover the part if you covered the labor.

·         If you aren’t in the home and can’t help with childcare, have no hiring authority, don’t have the repair skills to replace a battery, and have no financial means to help, there’s still something you can do.  Sometimes all we have to share is a smile, a kind word, and a caring hand to help someone up that has slipped and fallen.

 We can all help in some way if we’re willing.  Thank you to the Lovin’ friends who contributed ideas.  We appreciate all that you do in your communities and we’re sure they appreciate you, too.