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For Christy Nelson the Christmas season looked bleak. A mother of two and nursing student, the struggling single mother was about to have her utilities turned off with no way of paying the bill. Until she wrote into a local newspaper asking for a $100 donation from a holiday fund created two years ago by three retired businessmen.
According to a story on NPR, the fund was inspired by a story published in the local newspaper, The Repository, at Thanksgiving.The story told of an act of kindness during the Great Depression. Using the pseudonym B. Virdot, a Canton merchant put an ad in the paper asking people who needed financial help to write. After receiving the letters he sent $5 checks to 150 families.
This story of kindness during one of our nation's biggest struggles is documented in the book The Secret Gift and most recently has become the inspiration for a Canton community to lend a helping hand to those that need it most during this holiday season. The new fund is also anonymous and in a short time has piled up $48,000 from donations large and small.
"We had a story in November that fully 25 percent of the children in our county live in poverty," says Jeff Gauger, The Repository's executive editor. This couldn't come at a better time.
And just before the holidays the community's religious leaders including a rabbi, priest, and minister are working to answer letters requesting help in $100 increments. Luckily, Christy Nelson will have her utility bill paid this month thanks to the fund.
Volunteering and Your Health
According to CNN, new research from the Mayo Clinic shows that people who volunteer have lower rates of heart disease and live longer. Researchers say you should strive to volunteer 40 to 100 hours a year, just a few hours a week to enjoy the health benefits. Not only does charity make you feel good and help out the community in which you live, apparently it's good for your heart (literally and figuratively).
