by Lois Jamieson
Last Wednesday, I posted the second article in the trilogy called, “The Gift of Kindness, The Gift of Caring and The Gift of Generosity.” This week’s post is the final article in the series.
According to the Oxford Dictionary of Current English, Fourth Edition, the definition of generosity is as follows:
Generosity
1. freely giving more than is necessary or expected
2. kind towards other people
3. larger or more plentiful than is usual
Where do you fit in?
Which meaning fits you best?
I would really like to know how you see yourself.
I would like to share with you a great moment I experienced that exemplifies generosity…and it had nothing to do with me.
Several years ago StarShine had a dress code that required students to wear a StarShine T-shirt and navy or tan pants. StarShine provided two shirts for each student free of charge. But -- we soon realized that the students needed five shirts, one shirt for each day of the school week. Many of the parents did not own washers or dryers, so the students did not always have a clean shirt. The problem was there was no money to provide the extra T-shirts. The answer could only be realized by a giant sized bit of generosity.
I proposed a T-shirt Drive at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church where I am a member. The goal of the T-shirt Drive was to raise enough money to pay for 650 T-shirts at $4.00 each. For four Sundays the parishioners had the opportunity to sponsor T-shirts for the students. On the table each Sunday, were pictures of the students, so that everyone could see who would benefit from their generosity.
In four weeks, the goal was realized and there was enough money to outfit 130 students with five StarShine T-shirts each. The people of St. Barnabas gave from their hearts and provided a perfect example of generosity.
If you would like to share a time when you were generous, please comment on this post.
Did you miss the first two articles in the trilogy? You can still read both of them; just go to the Manners and Etiquette tab on our blog.
