Assistance Often Can Start Small
There is so much need in this world that sometimes it’s almost impossible to choose who to help first or to decide what cause needs the most help. And, many problems in this world can easily seem too big for any one person, or even a small army of people, to conquer alone. And, sometimes we don’t think our little contribution is even going to make that much of a difference anyway. But you might be surprised to find out that even little things can make a difference.
As I’m starting to see more and more, it doesn’t really matter how we choose to make a difference in the world around us, it just matters that we do something we care about. This was demonstrated on an episode of Oprah which featured two people making a difference in their own way: Genevieve Piturro started Pajama Program by simply collecting pajamas for children waiting to be adopted; and John Wood started what now is Room to Read by first simply collecting books to deliver to children in developing countries that didn’t have libraries. These are individual people that started something that filled a need and grew beyond their wildest hopes. Their advice was to chose something you are passionate about and move in that direction.
Another such person is Keith Taylor who created ModestNeeds.Org and is featured in a recent article of Forbes.com Magazine. Quoting this article, ModestNeeds.org looks especially to help “people who fall into that gap created by rigid federal guidelines.”
Donations help those that need a short-term financial fix, usually to get through an unexpected financial setback. What’s great about donations to Modest Needs is that you know specifically what your donated dollars are going towards. ”The check goes not to the recipient but to the bank, business or landlord that needs to be paid.” The criteria for who qualifies for their help is very specific since this organization targets a specific type of person with a specific type of need. This article also points out how donating in this way: “makes giving money a lot more like volunteering.”
Statistics about ModestNeeds that stand out for me include the facts that: the average monthly grant is small, currently around $560; only 10% of the beneficiaries of these grants ask again; and seven out of ten recipients log back into the site as donors.
This Forbes article points out that Modest Needs is similar to other organizations “that give donors the sense that they’re fixing problems directly” such as: Kiva, GlobalGiving, and DonorsChoose.
So, keep in mind that there isn’t only one way to make a difference. And, change can start small.
