Monthly Donations

Everyday I take the LC Shuttle to my internship and usually I walk to the library downtown to do some work (The shuttle arrives just after 10am and my internship begins at 11am). But its always a struggle to find the best path to take while walking downtown in order to avoid getting pulled aside and guilt-tripped into spending money on just about any kind of nonprofit organization. I've had people chase me from one corner to the next saying -- can't you spare 75 cents for starving children? Who can walk away from this without feeling like a terrible person? I think I walk away feeling angry, I am perfectly happy to hear about different organizations on the street, sign petitions, get informed, but I have absolutely no income right now, not to mention a mound of student loans that are not subsidized by the government and are gathering interest faster than I can speak.

It is sort of ironic that when I get to the WRAP office, we are putting together a mailing asking for monthly donations. I talked to Beth about the street people downtown, and she said that she tells them that she donates to three organizations (because she does donate to three organizations). She choose the ones that she felt best supporting. But the people at WRAP aren't about guilt tripping people. Their letter was very sweet, and focused on how thankful they were for the help and involvement of the people who have participated in WRAP in the past. It was personalized with the signatures of all 4 women in the office. And thanks to Steve and I, the envelopes also had hand-written names and addresses on them.

Everyone's got to survive during these tough economic times, but I appreciate the approach that is more about uplifting people and welcoming ways for people to support the communities they want, then getting guilt tripped on the street and having strangers question my character based on how much money I am willing to donate. (forgive the rant...)