Here we are in the week of Thanksgiving. This has most of my life been a week that I love. It’s a holiday that made sense to me in the past. It was one with very little pretense and overall was about something as basic as food.

There wasn’t a lot of pressure because mashed potatoes are always the right size and pumpkin pie was always my favorite color. As an adult, it became clear to me that I liked the holiday because it was simple. I appreciate simplicity. I don’t know why, but for me, life seems complicated enough that when you gather some people together and the only purpose is to eat and be thankful, it seems like I can get behind that.

And this year, well, it’s anything but. This year feels like Wile E. Coyote is running amok and we’ve all had an anvil drop on our heads. Actually it feels like more than one anvil. We have all had covid and the election saga, as well as some of our own personal chunks of steel that have rained down in their own ways on us. 

The hits appear to keep on coming and I am not naive enough to not also know that while life feels hard for me, there are millions of people who are living a far less charmed existence than mine. How do we reconcile that? I don’t know. I feel like I wrestle with that daily. 

I am turning my attention on giving. How can I give? To whom can I give that it will make the most difference? This year I have been, maybe for the first time, intentionally and consistently giving. I come across organizations, sometimes individuals, who are providing aid in a way that is desperately needed and I am deciding to give, not just one time but consistently. Where do you consistently donate? Who do you support?

And then as Desmond Tutu is known for saying,

“There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they’re falling in.”

Who of us are the most marginalized, most forgotten, most oppressed among us in the country and how we can support them, as well as disrupt the system that is creating suffering? 

We are for giving. If you don’t have any idea where to start, here are some options:

The Black Fairy Godmother
MRG Foundation
The Conscious Kid Covid Relief for Families
The Loveland Foundation
Together Rising

As we head into the holiday season, especially if you are reading this and your needs are being attended to in the most basic of ways, let’s share other organizations in the comments that you think are worthwhile.

Sunshine & Sarcasm,
Lowi & G