Hi Everyone,
At this time of year, we’re all inundated with requests for support from charities near and far. Even I can feel overwhelmed when all the requests seem like the needs are just too big. So, as we reach out with our “holiday ask”, I realized that you might appreciate hearing my secret for making my own decisions about giving.
First, some context: at BGC, we’ve learned that the key to offering help, or giving well, is to be mindful of protecting and respecting people’s dignity while doing so. The truth is, it’s really hard to ask for help, and that the vast majority want to pay what they can for what they need. Yet all too often, people need to prove they need help (by showing their t4 slips or pay stub or some equally humiliating exercise). Maybe that’s why working for BGC is such a privilege, and why the lens of the gift of dignity now guides my own personal giving.
Here, what giving dignity means is that a gift of $2,000 will fund one of our youth for a year of academic help to succeed at school (and graduate), $1,000 pays for another amazing kid to belong to their Club for a year, $500 (well, more specifically, $475) covers a kid to go to Camp Potlatch…and you can click here for more options. The bottom line is that a gift to BGC is giving respectful help…and dignity. We’ve been at this for 80 years, and your gift will help us continue.
You’re already a friend and donor to BGC, and as you’re faced with your year-end giving decisions amidst the noise about the latest gadgets and gizmos that we all apparently “need”, I hope you’ll consider a gift to BGC to make sure that the more than 12,000 kids and families we serve receive these simple things that we all really need: dignity and belonging.
Thank you for considering giving the gift of dignity this holiday season.
Carolyn
President & CEO, Your Holiday Advisor
