Rosa Parks Day is Giving Tuesday

I don’t believe that it is by accident that Rosa Parks Day and Giving Tuesday are celebrated today in the U.S. Rosa Parks is widely known for refusing to move to the back of the bus where African-Americans were relegated to sit during the era of segregation. Her action that day was not just because she was physically tired but, as she states in her autobiography, “The only tired I was, was tired of giving in.” That day she gave a gift that African-Americans still benefit from and are thankful for today.

Giving Tuesday was created in 2012 through a joint effort of the 92nd Street Y in New York and the United Nations, “With the hope that after several days of big sales and rampant consumption, there’d be an interest of giving back (google.com).” It is now a worldwide event and a day to help others.

So what motivates you to give? Is it because you have been so blessed to be alive for the past 11 months in the midst of a pandemic? Is it to tell others how charitable you are? Perhaps you simply see people in need and you want to give out of what you have to help them. Giving should be an unselfish act, however, take today, Giving Tuesday, to give out of what you have to someone in need.

It’s 12 noon on Giving Tuesday. You still have a chance to do your part to make a donation to a person, charity or organization to help someone in need. There are countless ways and places to make a donation of $1 or $1 million dollars. Google is a fantastic way to find a local or international organization to make a donation. The question is, how many people will step outside of their lives today to help someone else?

Will you?