Ultimate Blog Challenge - How do you help the less fortunate?

Hello and welcome back to October's Ultimate Blog Challenge. Today's question is

How do you help the less fortunate?

I am a member of several local, nationwide and international charities that make efforts to alleviate hunger, provide and maintain schools, water supplies and medical facilities. One is specifically designed to support women in crisis. To some I just send money, others I was / still am actively involved by contributing baked goods or volunteering my time.

As a Mom of a teenager / hockey player, we have a lot of clothes and gear to give away, and I am in touch of a lady who will personally take clothes to families in Morocco twice a year, so that's a win/win. I get rid of the things, and she - and more importantly the recipients - are  grateful. 

As for the hockey equipment, usually I gift it to local families with multiple kids who play, but last year one of the families of our team organized a container full of hockey stuff to be shipped to South Africa of all places. Yes, they play hockey in (South) Africa. Here's a heart warming testimony: 

 

There's a longer (17 minutes) version as well.

For a couple of years I was a board member of a charity. That was interesting. It felt very much like a regular job, you had a lot of internal issues, administration, organization and dealing with authorities. Except once a year, after our finance person came up with the total amount of money we had at our disposal, it was rewarding to be able to allocate these funds. 

Every year we participated in a toy drive / secret Santa program that went beyond collecting and redistributing random toys. A local radio station called on families in need to register their wishes. Reading this list brought tears to my eyes. 

They didn't want video games or the latest sneakers.

They needed repair money for their washing machine, subsidies to pay the dental bill, (used) equipment so their kids could attend ski camp, or simple backpacks for school, you get the picture. 

Understanding the life circumstances of these families makes you really, really humble. 

I loved to contribute to this program. Sometimes we would hear back from the radio people. That way we became aware on our direct impact.

For a while we contributed to an after-school tutoring program. A handful of senior citizens did a great job helping kids with their homework. I'm pretty sure it was more than that. They were also regular caregivers who listened and cared about the kids. After a while it was decided that this service was to be integrated into the regular school system. 

All in all, the situation in Switzerland is nowhere as bad as in other countries. Our social securities are designed to prevent devastating situations. For example a regular person who loses their job will receive 70% of their previous salary (80% if they're responsible for kids) for up to 400 days, and even longer if you're older than 55 years old. 

As an employee you're insured against loss of wages in case of accident and sickness for a reasonable amount of time, and you're protected from being fired depending on how long you've been working for this company. Sadly, as an HR person I could tell you of cases where people took advantage of this fact and kept coming up with doctor's notes for new injuries and illnesses for as long as they could. 

Still I am happy with our system. It really cushions cases of hardship. 

It still doesn't mean that there aren't people living below the subsistence level, who are too proud to register for welfare or can't make it even if they receive benefits. Some of them are single Moms, some have ex husbands who can't or don't want to pay alimony. While authorities will advance the payments, it's still a struggle. 

I am part of a local Facebook group that has two groups of members: people who need help, and people who want to help. I belong to the ones who will send supermarket vouchers or actually take groceries to people's homes. 

I have an awkward memory of such an encounter. This lady lives in the same town where my hair salon is, so I combined the two visits. I drove to this address she gave me. Back then I still had my rather fancy car, and I felt uncomfortable pulling up next to the old dented cars. I hoped she wouldn't spot me through the window.

It was raining, and I either would have needed to walk up twice, holding an umbrella, or shlep both gigantic grocery bags at once and have my new hairdo ruined. I opted for the latter and rang the bell. An older gentleman in the lobby was eyeing me, and I wished he'd go away and not witness the encounter for the other person's sake. Should I fake being a long lost friend? Luckily he seemed to mind his own business.

She arrived, toddler in tow, barely said hi or thank you, grabbed my bags, made her way back to the elevator.

See that's the thing. I get that it was probably embarrassing for her, and i didn't expect a huge display of gratitude, but how about a minute of small talk, even if it was just to ask "did you find the address OK" or "nasty weather, isn't it." 

Somehow I felt like I treated any regular postman or delivery person more welcoming.

I never heard back from her, but I did hope she enjoyed the things I got her. She had mentioned that her older kid suffered from diabetes, so I found some suitable treats for him. 

After this I pretty much preferred to just send gift cards. 

How about you? Do you like to get involved hands-on? How do you help the less fortunate?