Time To Give Back

In an odd way, I'm sad I have to write this blog post. Something like this shouldn't be needed, but it is.

In case you've been swamped with the words "Black Friday" and "Cyber Monday", you may nor may not have heard of "Giving Tuesday."

That's today.

It's a day designated to giving back. Helping someone else in need. Doing something for someone else.

I love that we want to give back. It's an awesome thing. What makes me sad though, is that we need a day designated for it. Shouldn't this be something we do all of the time? Should we need a special day to give back only once a year? Why do we need to designate a special day to help other people? It makes me sad.

Yet, it's awesome too. Because it gives us an excuse to do something great. To help someone else. We should do this every single day, but I know I don't.

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Nate sent me an email asking if I would want to join him and his other blog friends in Giving Tuesday. For those of you who don't know, Nate is basically awesome. He's the guy behind Love Bomb, Love Drop, It Starts With Us, and that whole debacle awhile back where a rumor was spread about Lincoln wanting to invent Facebook. Nate and I first connected through Love Drop a couple of years ago, and have been friends ever since. So, when he asked if I wanted to join in on his shenanigans, of course I was in.

Meet Christian Hannah.

Photo taken from his site.

Christian is a 14 year-old boy with cerebral palsy. He can't walk, feed himself, cloth himself, etc. and his mom helps him with everything. (She's only 4'11 by the way. Go short people!) This involves a lot of carrying.

Growing up, because I'm short and breakable, I had to go to physical therapy twice a week and I remember there were always several kids with cerebral palsy. I remember how their parents had to help them with absolutely everything and how hard their therapists worked with them to help build up their muscles.

Even I had to have my parents help me. While I could feed and cloth myself and everything, I do remember they had to help carry me. A LOT. We had 20 steps to get up to our house and when my legs weren't strong enough they had to carry me up those stairs every single day. They had to help me in and out of the car. Then when I had broken bones, they had to help me even more.

As I got older, this wasn't the case as often anymore, and I had way more mobility than a lot of other kids with physical conditions, which is awesome. However, when Nate showed me Christian's story, I couldn't help but relate.

The goal? Raise enough money to get his family a wheelchair accessible van.

Photo taken from Christian's site.

This way, his mom won't have to lift him in and out of the car multiple times a day. He can roll right in with his wheelchair. Pretty awesome, huh? But, it costs money.

That's where we come in. This is how I decided to participate in Giving Tuesday. (If you want to donate, click here!)

Giving Tuesday isn't just about throwing money at people though. It's helping and appreciating those around you. If you can't donate, here are some other ideas:

• Spread the word about Christian. On his page you can share his story on other social media sites.
• Help someone in need that you see today. Even if it's just helping someone load up their groceries in the busy parking lot. Just help them out.
• Share with someone why you appreciate them. It can be through a thank you card, a coffee date on your tab, actually calling them on the phone instead of a text message, whatever. Just show them you appreciate them. 
• Volunteer somewhere today. A homeless shelter, soup kitchen, animal shelter, etc.
• Pay for the person behind you in line- even if you don't know them.
• Spread the word about a favorite charity/organization
• Give that tired waiter/waitress a little bigger of a tip today - they have to deal with awful people all day
• Talk about #GivingTuesday on social media. (Don't forget the hashtag!)

Helping out Christian is my thing. What's yours?

To learn more about Giving Tuesday, check out their website.