Christians worldwide will celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and once more will be reminded of the reason why He had to give up his life in the ultimate sacrifice of offering himself to save mankind from eternal damnation.
At the same time that the season is when commercialism is at its peak as people busy themselves to prepare for the most important occasion. The message, has not been lost in the midst of all this mad rush to satisfy their material side. The spirit of giving permeates through all this frenzy. The awareness of other people’s plight becomes more pronounced and drives many to reach deeper into their reservoir of generosity.
This important season reminds us of the Biblical widow and her two coins, which was all that she had and which she gave up at her worship time. The ultimate Giver of them all acknowledged what she did when He said, “the poor widow has put in more than all the others but she out of poverty put in all she had to live on.”
As we hear and learn of how people opened up their hearts to come to the assistance of others who are less fortunate in life especially in this tumultuous period to empathize in action with the victims in their own little and personal sacrificial ways, we are confronted with the issue of the heart that pertains to the matter of charitable people really are.”
It may come as a surprise that a recent study has revealed that “rich people give much less to charity than the poor people”. The belief that the “richest individuals being most generous and worthy of tax breaks is false.”
Those belonging to the lower bracket “donated twice as much of their discretionary income as compared to more wealthy individuals”.
Pechanga Expansion Groundbreaking: The Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians together with local county, city officials and guests are all set for the groundbreaking ceremony to signal the construction of a $285 million project of the Pechanga Resort and Casino.
The two-year construction will add 585 rooms, a two-storey spa and salon, a resort-style complex with eight pool areas two restaurants in a 67,000 square foot space in the popular resort.
Philanthropy.com which tabulated data by following the donation patterns of every state concluded that “people who make between $50,000 and $75,000 a year donated 7.6% of their income to charity while those earning $100,000 donated only4.2% of their income.”
The accumulated data that followed the donation patterns of every state revealed also that the local population has 40% of people making $200,000 a year, donations dives to a measly 2.8%. The poor gives “till it hurts.”
More than 92% of Americans participate at some level of charitable giving with low income families on the average giving away 4.5% of their earnings as compared with only 2.5 % among the middle class doing the same. The high-income families contribute 3% of their income.
Among the reasons cited why people give are: they are asked to or a presented a giving opportunity; their innate compassion for those in need; their personal belief in the cause and how they are affected by the worthy cause and the compulsion to give back to the community.
It’s the season for giving where you heart is.
Merry Christmas to all.