Letter to the Editor

I wrote this letter and it was printed in the Waterloo Region Record on June 1st, 2013.

Develop generosity and giving hearts

Don't give to charity? Now's the time — May 28

While I applaud the efforts of MP Peter Braid and the government of Canada to encourage younger people to donate to charitable causes, I believe this is a small part of the equation.

Giving begins with a heart that recognizes needs outside oneself and a willingness to step up and help with that need. For myself, that kind of giving attitude was instilled at home by my generous parents and nurtured by the schools and church community I attended.

It is something my husband and I are attempting to pass onto our children by modelling it and showing them how they can contribute to the needs of others in a host of different ways.

On their own they are making choices to consider others: giving money, nine inches (23 centimetres) of hair (for children with cancer), and their time as volunteers when they have a professional development day. The schools my children attend also regularly engage the students in caring for others in tangible ways, whether raising money through a bake sale or participating in food drives.

Without homes, schools and faith communities also stepping up in developing generosity among younger people, tax credits are unlikely to spawn "lifelong donors."