Why giving to local charities makes all the difference in your community

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Thanks to Bob & John - Santora & DANA

John Baker of DANA and Bob Elder of Santora CPA Group found a way to pay for a full-color page on individual giving and volunteerism in the News Journal every other month - and they chose to feature an excerpt of My Ten Bucks! This being the very first time I have had anything I have written in the newspaper, I was absolutely thrilled!

Yesterday the full page advertisement was published in the News Journal on page A-10.

Thanks, guys, for choosing my piece. I hope you accomplish your goals with this page!

Check out John at http://www.delawarenonprofit.org/ and Bob at http://www.santoracpa.com/. Bramhall and Hitchens Insurance also chipped in to help cover the cost - check them out at http://www.bh-insurance.com/.

What if?

I had a weird dream the other night. My husband and I and a few friends were running a race. We had to stop mid-way to serve lunch at a restaurant at which we would later have dinner - for free. The dream included me running in meat shoes (don't ask); obviously, not everything in the dream was salvageable for the purposes of this blog.

It made me start thinking. What if volunteer hours could used as a type of currency? I mentioned before that volunteer time is valued at over $20 per hour. What if your time was as good as cash? What if you could volunteer at Read Aloud Delaware or Faithful Friends, get a voucher for your time, and take it to a local business to get a meal, buy paper towels, or pick up flowers for your wife (hint, hint)? Haven't we all heard that time is money?

It may be a crazy thought. I don't know. But it's a thought.

With Delaware's "Week of Service" coming up (check out http://www.1-800-volunteer.org/), I challenge you to think outside the box as you choose the organization to which you donate your time.