Giving Tuesday

When I woke up this morning, I knew I was going to be writing a blog post asking for your help. I mean, it is Giving Tuesday and we are a non-profit, asking for money is how we are able to stay functioning. 

Sitting here tonight, I can not bring myself to do that. Tonight I will not be writing a blog post asking you to give us money. I will not be asking for monthly donors or checks or cash. Instead I am going to ask you for something that is arguably much more challenging. 

For Giving Tuesday, I would like for you to give surplus amounts of grace, hugs, kindness, empathy, and smiles. These past two years have been brutal and today Oakland County took another pretty hard hit. It’s so easy to fall into a pattern of feeling defeated or helpless or exhausted, I know I am feeling all of these things tonight. We do not usually have the ability to take weight off of someone's shoulders, but a warm smile just might help lighten the load a little bit. 

This is not as well written as I hoped it would be, but to be honest, I don’t think it needed to be well written. The amount of calls, texts, and emails that I got today is mind blowing. Everyone wanted to make sure our kids and our communities were safe. The outpouring of love and prayer proved to me that as much as House of Hope needs monthly donors, genuine human compassion is way more valuable. So do us a favor and keep showing up in the lives of those around you.

-Alyssa