At the beginning of last year I wrote on here about my goal of charitable giving for the year. It would be the first time I’d ever donated to any organization. I started by selecting a different organization each month to donate to with the intention of donating $1000 for the calendar year. I failed to reach my goal, but I’m extremely proud to have supported several organizations throughout 2018.

In total I gave $424.13 to 4 different organizations. Donorschoose.org, which is basically the Kickstarter for teachers. Houston Museum of Natural Science. Holocaust Museum Houston. Houston Pets Alive!.

The plan and the goal will be the same in 2019 because Houston is full of organizations doing exceptional work.

I encourage everyone to travel as much as they possibly can. But I now also encourage everyone to donate their money or time to causes and organizations they find worthy because there are few things that can bring greater satisfaction. An example is a teacher in Houston whose project I recently supported. She wrote me a personal letter thanking me for helping her better serve her students. It made me so happy to help her.

I won’t tell you which organizations are best. I won’t tell you what type of causes to focus on. And I won’t even tell you to set a goal. But I will tell you that giving your time or money or both to non profit organizations that seem to stretch every dollar to its maximum extent has brought me a great amount of pride. And maybe, just maybe doing so would do the same for you.

Back to books next time.