In this our modern society, giving has been more complex than ever before. It used to be easy, people gave because they loved to. You can drop a bag of rice at the orphanage down there or bail out a neighbor in need and that is it, but now things have changed, Giving is now an event in this era of social media and showmanship. Every one wants to be perceived as being generous, kind and full of compassion yet very few people are actually doing it for the right reasons.
The unfortunate fact is that most people do not trust what happens to their donations to the poor that's why pictures and videos are posted because we now live in an environment full of tales of how money that should have been given to the poor is in the hands of the selfish people who know how to make up tears in front of a camera. A group of people can start a foundation to empower widows but takes more time to empower their wardrobe than the widows.
This is also a social media age where most individuals offer without caring, but just for the aim of getting attention. They capture a video of themselves giving food to a hungry child and upload it on the internet, waiting to get likes flooding in. They pretend that they are doing charity, even going as far as borrowing children in needy areas, photographing them and sending them back after the act is complete.
True charity does not like applause, giving is silent, humble and genuine. There are several ways to recognise true charity:
True charities tend to be open, they maintain records, present receipts and are able to account on all the naira that comes their way while the fraudulent ones are often vague, they give emotional narrations without evidence. They talk of touching lives and changing the world without demonstrating which lives they have touched or changed.
However, even other than money, charity is a matter of attitude. It is not only about giving things but giving love, time, and kindness. Sometimes, what people require is not your money, but your concern. Visiting the ill, teaching a child to read, mentoring a youth, all these are all charities as well.
There are instances whereby the most appropriate means of giving is to give it to the needy. You can go to an orphanage instead of giving money to a middleman, you can directly pay the fees of a poor student at a school, you can even purchase food for a hungry family. This makes sure that your benevolence does not take shortcuts to the bank account of someone.
Giving should be wise and accountable, we must be smart givers. Demanding accountability is not a bad thing, there is nothing wrong to ensure that your donations are being utilized to the correct cause. Most times, unstructured or unaccounted charity are usually mismanaged or embezzled.
Unfortunately these days, compassion has been substituted with competition by many persons. They desire to outdo each other, not with any good intentions but for publicity. Their goodness is evaluated based on the number of views that their helping videos receive, as soon as we begin to leverage on the misery of people to gain fame we have forgotten what charity is.
Nevertheless, in spite of the lies and performances, pure charity is one of the most beautiful things on earth. It can raise a starving family from it knees, give hope to the sick, and bring light to dark sides of the world. At least behind every counterfeit foundation, there are kind people, who provide silently, diligently and in a truthful manner, these individuals are not going to ever trend online and God only is their reward.
Charity is not about the amount you give at the end of the day, but the amount of love you put in the giving. It has nothing to do with cameras or applause, it is all about caring. It can be assisting a child to receive education or feeding a hungry neighbor or even a simple show of compassion to a stranger but it must be done with a true heart.
I very well agree to this...
A lot of people give today just to chase clout, to trend and just for showoffs, seeking validations and all around.
Giving in love is always the best.
Thanks for sharing.
💯💖💯
This is a very nice article, I learnt alot from this and I'm being inspired to start my own charity 🙂
Giving like you say it's not the amount you give but they heart you use in giving
It's more beautiful when you give with love, and the person you give it to feels it too.
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I totally agree with you that giving isn't about how much money or items you give but the love. It is so unfortunate that in our day people give to receive applause instead of love. If there is anything I despise, it is seeing people taking pictures of those they supported to prove that they are givers.. it just does make sense to me.