20 Days of Chill - Giving Back

Welcome back to 20 Days of Chill!

Today's theme is 

Giving Back

This is also my 1,100th post! I usually bake something nice for my blogversary, but I missed it. The last things I made was the Three Kings Cake and these cookies. Let's consider them my blog's celebratory cookies, shall we?

The beauty of giving back - the way I see it at least - is that you don't have to be rich in order to make an impact. Of course donating large amounts of cash is very honorable and allow organizations to invest the funds where it's needed the most. 

Who knows, they may even name the library after you. 

However, volunteering your precious time makes it all the more personal and valuable - plus rewarding for yourself!

There are so many ways to give back, and you're probably doing a lot without even noticing or calling it that way.

You're out on a walk with your kids and / or dog, and you notice some inconsiderate fellow humans left their trash at the park. What do you do? You're probably annoyed, but you pick it up and throw it away. The closest bin is literally a few feet away. 

Your neighbor fell and fractured their leg. As you're about to leave the house, you quickly call and ask if they needed anything from the store? It's no sweat since you're going anyway, right? For the handicapped person it's one thing less to worry about. 

Even kids can do things. Help a classmate out by doing a hard project together. Bake and sell cookies for their Boy or Girl Scout group. Spend an afternoon at the local nursing home, read to the senior citizens whose eyesight is bad or play cards. 

Switzerland is a rich country with a wonderful social security system. For some individuals it's actually too good, meaning there are ways to take advantage of the rules. On the plus side, people who would fall through the cracks in other countries, are being taken care of here.

Healthcare, loss of wages due to injury or sickness, medical expenses, unemployment benefits, surviving dependents' pension, homeowner's and liability insurance, you name it, we have it, and it's mandatory for everyone. If you can't afford it, you file for subsidies. 

This is why lots of foreigners love to come and work in Switzerland. Did I mention everyone gets at least four weeks of paid vacation? Yes, per year, and no matter your tenure. 

Why am I telling you all this? Not to make you jealous, that's for sure. 

What I'm trying to say is we're very well off.

Our unemployment rate is super low. In December 2021 (and that's usually the month where many construction companies have less or no work) it was 2.4%. That's about 120k+ people. Yes, we're a small country. On the other hand the folks who do have a job complain about being overworked. And there are almost 50k open positions that can't be filled. Medical and nursing staff of course; the IT and hospitality sector are desperately looking for people, too.

Our criminal rate is low as well. 

In 2017/18 Switzerland's "killing rate" (number of homicides per 100,000 inhabitants per year) was 0.5. To put this into perspective, in Venezuela it was 81.4, in South Africa  35.9, in Mexico 24.8 and in the U.S. 5.0 (Source)

We have very few homeless people, and those who are, chose not to benefit from shelters and other offers. It's hard to find numbers, but here's a statement of a charity that takes care of these people: "In Zurich, two to three dozen people are known to voluntarily spend the night outside at any time of the year, even in cold weather." So 24 - 36 individuals. Zurich is Switzerland's largest city with 400k+ inhabitants. The percentage of homeless people is therefore 0.0089%

Emergency sleeping centers and soup kitchens do exist, mostly funded by churches, using tax money or private donations, but there are not very many of them because they're not needed.

Meaning as a regular person you're not "required" to volunteer. There are systems, services and funds in place, and if you play by the rules and fill in your share of forms, you'll be helped. 

Actually the most valuable things people like me can do, are:

• Hold and keep a job in order to provide products and services needed
• Pay taxes
• Spend enough money to keep the economy going and still accumulate enough savings in order to sustain yourself
• Stay healthy - as in don't need medical attention
• If you have kids, raise them to become productive members of society

I make it a point to remind my son how good we have it, and a recent event showed me that he totally gets it. He donated his children's books to my friend's school. She's an elementary school teacher, and her tiny budget for reading material got cut yet again. Reading! the school (or the state, or whoever's in charge) wants to save money by removing resources that support literacy! I can't even...

Colin could have sold his books at the bi-annual school yard sale. He usually makes enough to purchase some nice things. So I'm proud of him. 

What else can we do?

For a couple of years I served on the board of a women's charity.

I donate clothes on a regular basis. People I personally know bring them to Romania or Morocco. They say our jackets, jeans and sweaters are being worn and apprecitted.

I know of a handful of single Moms to whom I slip a grocery store voucher every now and then. 

Coincidence has it that just the other day a lady at the gas station approached me. She asked me if I had ever heard of her Dad's organization "Star Ride". 

This charity supports children in difficult circumstances and their families. They figure they deserve a break from their often very arduous everyday life by taking them on a joyride. She seemed to think that my car must be particularly joyful to drive. So come summer, I may sign up for one of these joyride days.

What does giving back mean to you?