Dov

Defining Charity In Biblical Context

 Posted by on Sun, 12/11 at 11:56pm  Uncategorized  No Responses »
Dec 112016
 

There are so many different dictionaries that the internet enables us to use as resources. For some words, simple definitions that contain only a few words, the language of origin, and maybe one or two example sentences do not fully express the full meaning behind the word. I grew up reading the Bible, I use it as a reference for all kinds of trials in my life. When I think about religion I think of the golden rule. All religions agree in their humblest existence on the idea that treating others the way that we want to be treated makes for a happy human world. Well, there has been elaborate action in the complete opposite direction. 2 Corinthians 9:7, “So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.” For many people who have been shown the light of the world through education and love understand the importance of doing what one believes is right. To go against your heart is a great tragedy. Philippians 2:3-4, “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his interests, but also for the interests of others.” It is so important to recognize ourselves in other people. People are so quick to judge, but in reality every one has been through a hell of a lot living here. Everyone deserves mutual respect because you never know who you are going to meet or what that person will do in your life. Hebrews 13:2, “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by doing so some have unwittingly entertained angels.” I love this message. We should all be so inspired to keep an open mind. The Bible is open for interpretation. Many Christians believe charity is about Jesus Christ. Looking to Jesus Christ by the way he lives his life. I am not sure totally what to believe, but I know that if you follow your heart and do what you believe is best, and most of all to really believe that miracles can happen, then they will. People can divide into groups because they want to believe in tradition or keep a part of culture alive, but for all of us, no matter what we say or do, love will always be the human religion.

Kids Rule

 Posted by on Sun, 12/11 at 11:03pm  ideas, reading  No Responses »
Dec 112016
 

The simplest answer is at often times is the best answer. As people grow they tend to split into more groups as they try to find a sense of identity in the world. From the time we are kids until we grow up, so much changes for us. Different schools, jobs, the dynamics of a family can change, and so much happens as we move through life. Sometimes all of this experience gives us a biased and highly sensitive mindset that is supremely subjective. Children are innocent. So many kids are born into the mayhem and terrifying places that exist on Earth, but for children raised in a healthy family environment really have it made. I decided to do some research into humanitarian projects that children have started. Giving success to a child who dreams of making our planet a better place to live is too inspiring to pass up. A young girl named Alexandra opened her first Lemonade stand for children with cancer when she was only 4 years old. Since she opened, her name has travelled to lemonade stands across the country. Shortly after basketball enthusiast Austin turned 9 years old, he saw a video that changed his life. It is a movie about children who have lost their parents to AIDS. Austin started his organization, Hoops of hope the world’s largest free-throw marathon, dedicated to raising money for orphaned children from across the globe and providing them with food, education, and health care. 12 year old Craig perspective was changed forever when he stumbled upon a tragic story of child slavery in the newspaper. He was so motivated to make a change for these children that he gathered his closest school friends to found Free The Children, an organization dedicated to empowering and educating kids all around the world about how to make this planet a better place for everybody. The list goes on and on, and there are articles all over the internet that boast the kind hearts of the children in our population. A society ruled by children may be far fetched, but everyone who has grown up in this world owes it to themselves to think back to when they were kids. If we all remember the time and effort people put in to help us grow up to be big and strong maybe we can return the favor by doing our part to do good, whatever that may uniquely mean for each of us.

Linking The Bridge

 Posted by on Sun, 12/11 at 9:44pm  ideas  No Responses »
Dec 112016
 

I started with the subject of charity for this class not knowing exactly where I might go. When I first had the idea, I glanced at some literature from Place of Hope’s organization and thought it to be a venture well spent. For the people by me. I have always wanted to leave a positive imprint on the world that I could be proud to call my own. Even though I am not too old, I believe I have been doing it my whole life, even though sometimes it does not seem like it. When I started to do more research on impoverished areas I started to think about this country and everything it stands for. Clean water, fresh food, education, the lives we lead are alien to our brothers and sisters across the oceans, and in our communities. “We are all the same.” I have an idea that is quite unrealistic, but an idea nonetheless. Every person in the world gets to be a part of it. We choose our own paths and lead such different lives, so maybe we are not all the same. People around here seem ignorant to it all when you pass them by. Everybody moving strategically around each other in the malls, streets, and sports arenas, just trying to enjoy the fortunate life they were given. There is a mutual respect and peace about strange people standing closely to one another. Maybe if everyone who was born in a world fortunate to be comfortable and safe took the time to look at the other side things would get better faster. A lot of people want things to stay how they are. If they truly realized the magnitude of the suffering I think they would reconsider, but not everybody wants to be good. I think in this life that if you are given certain gifts then you should find a way to make other people happy with those gifts, and then you will be happy. There are levels to living on this planet. Most of the world is not concerned about being happy today, but surviving the night. Governments could step in to try to solve the problems within power. Huge banks and corporations could potentially make creative investments in the people of these countries, but the reality is that the world is a dark place for almost half our population, and it may be like that for centuries to come, or more.

Realities of Immigration

 Posted by on Sun, 12/11 at 9:06pm  ideas, reading  No Responses »
Dec 112016
 

It is crucial to the advancement of our society to look at the numbers that or trusted experts report. Roy Beck is an immigration journalist and expert. He teamed up with NumbersU.S.A. to create a visual representation of the effects that immigration is having on our country and world as a whole. To illustrate a point that our U.S. immigration policies are failing the world he uses the help of gum balls and glass jars of various sizes. Each gum ball represents one million people. Each jar is of portionable size to its given country’s population. According to the study, the United States has taken in one million immigrants a year from around the world since the year 1990. People are under the impression that by taking in more people the United States will help substantially in the fight to abolish the most impoverished people. The reality is in fact heartbreaking. There are approximately 650 million people in Africa living in the poorest sector of poverty in the world, which has been determined at an average income of under $2 per day. India has about 890 million people in this category, South America has 105 million, China is at about 450 million people, and the rest of Asia compiles to be another 890 million human beings. Combined there is roughly 3 billion people desperately poor in the world. The reality is that even a full 1% of people in these conditions will ever make it over to an affluent country, like the United States. So, the united States brings in a million people every year. These extremely poor people mentioned above will not likely be any part of this one million immigrants. The united States wants to take the best that they can get from these countries. Even when the united States does bring in a million people, the poorest areas of the world are growing rapidly, adding roughly another 5 million people to their population. The United States is really doing a disservice to all of thee people by enticing the greatest minds from anywhere on the globe to come live and experience it for themselves. The real heroes are the people who stay in their country and help advance the people there to a higher state of living. It is an extraordinarily complex problem. It’s easy to feel helpless when you know there is not much you can do about the death tolls that families experience every second of the day.

The Poor Give More

 Posted by on Sun, 12/11 at 6:13pm  ideas, reading  No Responses »
Dec 112016
 

In researching my topic, I came across a comparison of statistics that holds tremendous value when observing the charitable world. In an archive found in an online magazine titled, The Atlantic, One of the most surprising facts of charity in this country is that the people who can least afford to give are the ones who donate the greatest percentage of their income. In 2011, the most rich Americans, those with make anywhere in the top 20 percent, contributed on average 1.3% of their income to charity. In comparison, One of the most surprising, and perhaps confounding, facts of charity in America is that the people who can least afford to give are the ones who donate the greatest percentage of their income. In 2011, the wealthiest Americans—those with earnings in the top 20 percent—contributed on average 1.3 percent of their income to charity. By comparison, Americans at the base of the income pyramid, those in the bottom 20 percent, gave 3.2% of their income. There is room for interpretation and debate as to why this is an absolute reality. Many potential psychological reasons for why these numbers appear the way they do. The most appropriate reason I believe is exposure. Many of the world’s wealthiest grow up in this affluential environment. They do not truly understand how most of the world is living. A study created to test this phenomenon finds that when the rich and poorer classes are exposed first hand to the overwhelming amount of poverty shows that most people all react almost identically.

It Starts With a Lending Hand

 Posted by on Sun, 12/11 at 3:11pm  reading  No Responses »
Dec 112016
 

When I was a kid I used to go to Catholic church service on Sunday mornings with my sister and mother. For thousands of years the Church has kept traditions alive that correspond with the events that take place in the service. The wicker baskets that make their way around the church allow the people a chance to donate their money to impoverished and hungry people. I wanted to do some research into the history of charitable organizations. When was the first “Charity” cause called into session. According to a study by Harvard, non-profit organizations really did not start until the mid 20th century. Over 90% of charitable organizations that still exist have been created since 1950. Non-profits are not easy to define because of the great range and scope of the glossary of organizations. There are so many different ways that they get their funding. Receiving revenue from sold goods, like a stuffed animal, contribute, as well as private donations received. The majority of non-profits receive money from the government in some way. Part of defining the very beginning of a charitable organization is determined by how we interpret the term, as well as how it evolves through space and time. Biblical times provide their services, but now we have hospitals and universities that are non-profit entities. This idea of a charity will continue to evolve for the next many years to come in ways hard to for see, but surely the term will continue to uphold as a synonym for hope.

article: By Peter Dobkin Hall. Historical Perspectives on Nonprofit Organizations in The U.S.

Studying Cultural Artifacts in Nonprofits

 Posted by on Thu, 11/3 at 12:43pm  reading  No Responses »
Nov 032016
 

The main objective of this journal article post is to study some of the cultural artifacts, or anything created by humans which gives information about the culture of its creators and users. I started reading online and came across an article titled, “Open Reflections on Nonprofit Culture.” This article offers a perspective on culture I am not entirely familiar with. One of the main points of the article describes what culture is when from the perspective of a foreigner in a another country. The writer defines culture in this instance as both the spoken and unspoken rules that guide how people behave. The speaker says that looking at artifacts, behaviors, and values are all key to discovering the meaning behind nonprofit organizations. In this case, artifacts are seen as documents or other things that can be touched. Behaviors are actions that we can see and experience. Finally, values are defined here as attitudes and assumptions that we experience in nonprofit organizations. Another major topic covered in this article is leadership. Leadership is discussed as it is defines the culture and the staff that implements diverse values unique to that specific culture. The article offers a webinar as an artifact that is titled, “How the Sum of Our Attitudes, Customs and Beliefs Define Nonprofits with Debra Holland.” This webinar breaks down how leadership defines a culture and a staff by implementing a culture within their organizations. The webinar is designed to help in three categories. These categories include: understanding the importance of culture in a nonprofit organization, developing strategies and politics to build organization value, and establishing behavior patterns to cultivate organization culture for long-term purpose. Along with the webinar, this article provides two different two part questions to help the reader organize their thoughts when it comes to this particular topic. The first question states, “What is the aesthetic of your organization? What does the appearance of your facilities, staff, or advertisements say about your culture?” I believe that this question is so relevant to the culture we live in today because of all the visual appeal that people look for in a product or service. The other question states, “How is your hospitality represented? How do you literally and metaphorically display your inclusivity to the community?” This question covers the opposite side of culture than the prior question because it is keen on discovering better methods of human interaction. Both of these questions are relevant when continuing the discussion of the nonprofit culture.

Cultural Artifacts

 Posted by on Sun, 10/23 at 6:01pm  artifact ideas, Uncategorized  No Responses »
Oct 232016
 

In this segment I will share three cultural artifacts that have their own unique place in our society. The first cultural artifact comes from our discussion in class. It is the acronym, FOMO. FOMO stands for “fear of missing out.” There are so many different ways to spend your time on this planet. This acronym is primarily used by millennials in Western culture. This term is significant because it enables people to exercise the power to consider opportunity cost when making decisions for their life. The next cultural artifact is the iphone. Apple has in so many ways swallowed up our culture in this country. It is almost impossible to go anywhere in a major city and not see people on their smart phones. These devices give us information about our world to help us through this journey called life. The final cultural artifact I’d like to discuss is major music festivals. I’ve attended some of the biggest electronic music festivals in the world because I believe they successfully achieve in creating a surreal atmosphere for everyone who attends. These festivals show what advances our society has made in music, technology, and entertainment. This cultural artifact creates an atmosphere where everyone can feel free to be the amazing beings that we as humans truly are.

Make A Change Starting In College

 Posted by on Sun, 10/9 at 8:07pm  ideas  No Responses »
Oct 092016
 

My main focus this semester is to add to the conversation of non-profit organizations. There are so many different organizations, projects, and people in our world who need just the basic necessities to live. Living in Boca Raton, it is easy to forget that there is so much pain and destruction happening in the outside world. Boca has always seemed like a bubble to me for this reason. In communities and private groups where there is great wealth, people do not like to discuss the poor and dying very much. It can be a very discouraging and overwhelming topic to try and break through. In wealthier areas there is this sense of individuality where everyone works through school in order to do something with their own life. In this race against time when everyone is chasing something different the needy have only a whisper of a voice. The vast separation between people is due to the social structure we have in society. When I think about groups as a whole as far as by age go, only kids in school are forced to come together to help others in need. When your whole class goes on a field trip to help the needy nobody complains. People like helping the world with people they care about. It is just good energy for everybody involved. In college, Greek life is a great example of groups of like-minded people coming together to improve the community they live in. I encourage students to look into Greek life at FAU because meeting new friends is awesome, but it is a great way to get involved with philanthropy and have a great chance to speak out to people our own age for the future of our generation. Once we all graduate and are on our own again, we may not have the same influence and desire as we may now. We are young and passionate people, why not use our youth for something incredible and rare. To make a difference does not require changing the way of the whole world. Helping just one person can change your life forever. I know we all think we have our own goals, but life is short. Doing the right thing is not always easy, but in my experience it comes with the least amount of regret. So, once agin, considering Greek life at FAU could be a great opportunity to influence a great number of like-minded people our age to do something positive for humanity.

Charity Debate on Stanford.edu

 Posted by on Sun, 10/9 at 7:43pm  reading  No Responses »
Oct 092016
 

This journal segment is donated to a reading about an article titled, “Should Charities Ask For Time Before Money” found on Stanford Business School’s Graduate website. The main thesis of this article finds that a charity is likely to get more money from donators by asking them for their time and effort before asking for monetary donations. They find this to be true mainly because the more time and effort a person puts into a cause the more emotional their personal connection will be with the organization and specific people in need of help. The coauthors of this study find that donating time vs money creates two different mindsets in the donator. When donating time people ask themselves if what they are doing will make them happy or emotionally attached. When donating money people tend to contemplate issues regarding whether or not it will put a dent in their wallet and think more from an economical standpoint. The coauthors conducted three studies for the article. The first study asks participants to read an article about a fictional charitable organization. The experiment found that the article asking for time before money consequently found that people were willing to offer twice as much money than if the article were to be presented the other way around. The second experiment involved a fake article that asked for time, but not money at all. The experimenters provided a donation box seen near the exit door. People still gave twice as much to the organization that did not ask for any money at all over the organization that explicitly asked for cash. This shows that the mere sign of a financial donation makes people distant to the cause. The article’s concluding experiment basically found that the reasons why people were so willing to donate their time rather than money does not have any correlation with guilt. Donating money before time finds that people donate more due to guilt. By donating time rather than money, it is possible to have the opportunity to become more engaged in the actual cause. By just donating money the exact opposite exists, as the donator is more inclined to become much more disengaged. Human beings wish to be a part of something greater than themselves. By donating the gifts that God has given each of us, it is possible to create in such a positive and real way for not only our fellow man, but for our community and world too.

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