The Giving Tuesday campaign has been in the back of my mind ever since the day I found out about it. The idea behind it and its potential have beckoned me to think of bigger ways that I can give this holiday season. But even before Giving Tuesday, after the first month of treatments to cure my son’s leukemia, I’ve been thinking about ways to help other families like mine deal with some of the stresses of this life.

Spending Distaste

Thanksgiving this year was very different in our home. We kept it to a minimum, having just gotten released from the hospital a couple days before the big day. My tradition of endless eating, followed by internet stalking for pending Black Friday deals, seemed so trivial in light of everything that’s been going on. The only thing I purchased this year was a DVD set from Target on White Saturday (the day after Black Friday). I spent a whole $13 and that’s it thus far for the Holiday season.

Giving in a direct way

Now, I don’t believe that’s all I’ll be spending but I’m much more focused this year on helping others in more direct ways. Yes, I’ve written out the tithe and building fund check for the church; yes, I have my donation envelope ready for my annual gift to Mercy Corp; yes, I’m volunteering to help house and feed the homeless in January; yes, we’re (still) filling up our Operation Christmas Child shoebox – but my hands feel like they want to get deeper in the mud this year. I want to do more. Because I can. We all can.

What is Giving Tuesday?

“Giving Tuesday is a national movement around the holidays dedicated to giving, similar to how Black Friday and Cyber Monday have become days that are, today, synonymous with holiday shopping. It’s a call to action. The goal is to help Giving Tuesday become a major part of the holiday season, putting giving upfront in November rather than an afterthought in December or the New Year.”

My Giving

So, right in line with my own plans to do something more, Giving Tuesday fits perfectly. Apart from giving to other organizations, I’ve put together a blood donation drive with Children’s National Medical Center in honor of my son and other oncology patients, particularly of African American decent, who are in constant need of blood. This gift goes beyond toys and physical things for the holiday season. It’s the gift of life – from one body to another. It’s a way that I can give in a more real way.

As Martin Luther King Jr said, “Everyone can be great because anyone can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.” This is the spirit behind Giving Tuesday. I hope you’ll get involved.