International Day of Charity
Every human being knows the importance of giving, but a gentle reminder once in a while doesn’t hurt. This year is a year of havoc in human history, not just because of the global pandemic that’s going on but also because of the flooding of cities, blasts, social unrest in various countries, earthquakes plus so many other disasters, and all these calamities have occurred that has hit us along with the pandemic.
There are tens of thousands of people that are homeless and starving due to these catastrophes, they are afraid and helpless, so they pray that someone would help them and be their saving grace. To create awareness of situations like these, in 2012, the United Nations General Assembly officially declared 5th September as International Day of Charity. It was an initiative by the Hungarian civil society, that was immediately backed by the Hungarian Parliament who presented it to the UN. According to the UN, the purpose of World Charity Day was to “mobilize people, NGOs, and stakeholders all around the world to help others through volunteer and philanthropic activities.” They chose this date to commemorate the death anniversary and feast of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who in 1979, received a Nobel Peace Prize. She was a humanitarian who chose to “serve the poorest of the poor and to live among them and like them.”
Before Mother Teresa officially established the Missionaries of Charity, she was as poor and alone as those she wished to serve. She would beg for food and supplies so that she could help the poor. She began educating children by teaching them lessons by writing in the dirt as they did not have any books and she also taught them how to care for themselves. Today the Missionaries of Charity run orphanages, schools, family counseling programs, mobile clinics, dispensaries, children’s counseling programs, and soup kitchens. They also manage homes for those who are dying of leprosy, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDs. There are many ways to get involved in the International Day of Charity. It does not matter how much money we spare or how much time we spend in volunteering, charitable donations are welcomed in every form, whether they are big or small. Some fun and easy ways of raising money for charity could be through garage sales, bake sales, or by joining a fundraising group. If you are an artist you could make and sell your art pieces or you could participate in, or start a marathon to raise money.
Mother Teresa was a role model who made an unprecedented contribution to alleviating poverty from society, helping the needy people and relieving their suffering while inspiring many people to give to the poor. We could also help our society become a better place by helping the poor and needy in whatever way we can. After all Mother Teresa famously quoted “It’s not about how much you do, but how much love you put into what you do that counts.”
Contributed by Glynisann Santiago content writer at Mitti Ke Rang
At Mitti Ke Rang, we started with a COVID-19 community support fundraising, as an emergency response to provide a safety net to families. This will help them survive in the lockdown period. We aim to directly support these families by providing a minimum wage, through transferring the same into their accounts or partner with local NGO, Organisation, Fellow, or a Volunteer, and support them with groceries.
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