Well, we’ve just been through Black Friday, Super-Shopping Saturday (I don’t think that’s the official name, but it seemed appropriate) and Cyber Monday.
Frankly, I skipped it all. Not that I don’t appreciate a good deal, but it all seems so over-the-top and designed to trap me into overspending that I felt safer staying far away from stores and shopping sites over the past weekend of retail revelry.
But I did read about an interesting movement that’s attempting to be the antidote to the buy-me mentality. Known as Giving Tuesday, it is designed to be an annual day of giving which seeks to celebrate the philosophy of giving during the holidays
Giving Tuesday started in the U.S. with a question: “What if the giving season had an opening day?”
This sparked the organizers to come up with the idea for Giving Tuesday, created in the U.S. in 2012 to get people as excited about giving back as they are about scoring the best bargains of the year. The idea is that consumers will take time to find a charitable cause worthy of their support, rather than hit the malls or online retailers.
It is designed to be the Tuesday after the U.S. Thanksgiving weekend, which is traditionally the biggest shopping extravaganza of the year.
Unfortunately, this year’s Giving Tuesday date has already passed by the time this paper has gone to press, but that doesn’t mean you couldn’t still take advantage of the concept behind the day.
Why not take up your own Giving Wednesday or Giving Friday? Any day would do.
Giving is a bit of a theme for this issue. We’ve got a story on page A16 about Victoria Skofteby, who is making a daily act of giving her mission for the Christmas season. She has taken both to social media and to the paper in the hope that others will be inspired to do the same.
It was a delight to speak with her about the project, as she is so clearly moved by how small acts of kindness and generosity can take root and nourish not only the souls of the recipient, but of the giver as well.
This week, the Observer has also dedicated our annual free space for local non-profit groups to raise awareness of the good works they do in our community and highlight their needs. This is sort of an ad-hoc matchmaking effort, as it is our hope that the needs of one or more of these organizations will resonate with our readers whether it be with donations of money, goods or volunteer time.
Sometimes people would love to help out but aren’t really sure where or how best to do that.
Sometimes, we all get caught up in our own busy lives and a little reminder that their is a host of options for giving can nudge us back towards the true spirit of the holidays.
The Guide to Giving, which is featured on pages A11 through A13 may be a way to discover the perfect cause to support.