Helping Hearts, Blog of Anne Sanders

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net Today I want to honor a man, a man with a heart after helping others. This man wasn’t trying to be in the spotlight, he just had a heart after God and for showing God’s love to others. He tried to live by Matthew 25:40 and in the twenty years that I knew him, he did. The verse shows us how we should help others as if we were helping Jesus Himself. The man was named Sandy and he was a kind, gentle, patient and compassionate man, always ready with a smile, a handshake and an encouraging word. When having lunch with him one day, I overheard the waitress say something to Sandy and found out that he had paid for the dinner of some military service members he had seen in the restaurant. He didn’t want them to know it was him. He just wanted to brighten their day and thank them for their service. Another memory I have of Sandy is from a few years ago when it was almost Christmas. We wanted to get something special as a pr...

I know not everybody loves Facebook, but I think it’s pretty great. Especially since I’ve taken up a new challenge there. It’s called the 15 Can Challenge. It’s easy because it’s something you already do. Each week when you go shopping buy a few extra cans of food. Then the first week in December, contribute it to the local food pantry for their holiday dinners for the hungry. If you have the time, it’s a good idea to call them first and see what they are especially in need of, sometimes it’s something you may never think of, like peanut butter for PBJs, but that’s a great staple because of the protein benefits it has. I regret not doing Socktober, which is a Kid President Challenge in October to provide socks for the homeless. But it’s not too late. Luckily, I live in Florida and we’ve only had a few days of cold weather. If you live somewhere that’s cold many months of the year, you know how that can be. Imagine being out in the cold night after night, or even in a shelter. ...

I love this time of year. Not only are we celebrating the birth of Jesus our savior, but everyone is in a volunteering, charity giving mood. You hear of opportunities to help others on the radio and television. There are clothing and toy drives in the Walmarts, drug stores, and other businesses. You only need look around a little bit to find a way to help others. Some of my Facebook buddies have come up with a way to help homeless people—by carrying gallon ziplock care packages with them in the car. They fill them with toiletries and hand and foot warmers. Some are getting their neighborhood associations together to put bunches of them together. Here are a few more ideas for things to do:  1.        Write letters of appreciation : Take the time to write letters of appreciation to people you truly appreciate. Think about the postal service workers, maintenance workers and your child’s bus driver who keeps him safe every day. 2. ...

Usually on this Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, I put out a list of gifts that give, ones that you can buy that help a charity do its work. But this year, I decided that rather than point out what you can buy to help others, I’d like to point out a new tradition— Giving Tuesday . I will still put out my “gifts that give” list, but I felt it had to wait. During December 3, Giving Tuesday, individuals will start volunteer projects, make online donations and gather at dozens of events to celebrate the start of the holiday giving season by giving back to the causes they care about most. Want to know where some of these events are? Check out Giving Tuesday . The U.S. White House reports that more than 7000 partners across all 50 states are taking part. Why should you? Well, let’s think about it. What does the holiday season really mean? Is it just about having a good time with your family and friends? Is it about the gift of love that Jesus brought when he was born...

Five more kids will have presents from their fathers in prison this year because of the Angel Tree program and the ladies of my bible study. I called some local churches and one of them said they’d look into doing Angel Tree next year, too.   I know it’s not much but it’s something those five kids will not soon forget. Today I’m going over to my local food bank to drop off food from my hurricane closet. Hurricane season ends when November does so I cleaned out my closet and had a bunch of canned soup, ravioli and veggies to donate. I put a note on my Facebook page so my friends can give me items to donate, too. Last year we had a food drive at my birthday party in lieu of gifts so we were able to bring a nice box of items. When I called the food bank, they were eager to get the food with so many people stopping by right now needing it. We already sent a bag of Christmas food and money for a turkey through our church. I can’t help it. I keep hearing on the radio about ...

Have you ever wondered how charitable your neighbors are ?   Your town? Your state?   A new study by The Chronicle of Philanthropy compares tax returns of taxpayers who earned $50,000 or more in 2008 to determine their levels of giving. The trends were that those that had less gave more.   States that voted Republican in 2008 gave more.   People in states considered deeply religious gave more, too. As for volunteering, the statistics show that more than one in four Americans volunteer. The families studied gave $135 billion or almost two-thirds of the $214 billion donated by all individuals in 2008. Giving was calculated after major expenses like taxes, housing and food to level the playing field . The median charitable donation was 4.7 percent of discretionary income. The state with the highest percentage of giving was Utah at 10.6 percent.   The people of Utah also topped the chart for volunteering at a rate of f orty-five percent.   That’s almo...

Yesterday my son and I went shopping for school clothes. You would have thought I was torturing him the way he complained. Florida also had a tax free weekend for school supplies and clothing last weekend. We had returned from being out of town that Sunday so we ran over to Walmart at 7 p.m. that night to get his composition books and pencils, too.   From my Facebook page, I can see that some of the children of my friends are already in school. My son starts next week. So, it’s time to start thinking of teachers, schedules and homework again. Amidst all the preparation, you will see boxes in major chain stores like Walmart asking for school supply donations for needy kids.   It’s an easy way to donate. Just pick up a few extra boxes of pencils and reams of paper at the same time you’re shopping for your own children while most of these items are on sale. However, there’s another group of kids who need supplies just as much as the older ones—preschoolers. We have a ...

I write about a lot of volunteering days and another one is coming up December 5—International Volunteer Day.   This one has been sponsored by the United Nations since 1985 and 2011 is the ten year anniversary of the year of the volunteer in 2001.   The UN General Assembly will be discussing volunteerism between now and December 5 and you can listen to and chime in on their discussions here .   There’s also a photo contest to show how volunteering can help countries meet peace and development goals. November 19 was also National Family Volunteering Day. But none of these volunteering days means a thing if they are not celebrated in the spirit of volunteerism, by doing something to help others. So, on the Wednesday before National Family Volunteering Day, my son and I went shopping.   We bought sunscreen, toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap, razors, dental floss, candy canes, summer sausage logs and crackers for a group of 800 Army soldiers in Afghanistan. The unit ...