A Year of Living Generously: Dispatches From the Front Lines of Philanthropy~ Lawrence Scanlan
I hardly know what to say about this book or where to start. It has profoundly affected me. This native of Kingston, Ontario decided that for the year 2008 he would volunteer with twelve charitable organizations and dedicate a month of hands-on involvement to each one.
Scanlan says, "I have been involved in community work all my life...but I never really got my hands dirty..." His life and his view of life are about to change in his year of giving. Most dramatically, this change happens in three steps; from the viewpoint of "helping others as has become fashionable" to his feelings of benevolence, altruism, humanitarianism, kind-heartedness or compassion, to the "humble notion of sharing."
His monthly challenges include working at the St Vincent de Paul - Loretta Hospitality Centre where he first shovels the parking lot, then serves meals and later mops the floor. The motto here is "There are no unimportant jobs." His lesson is: "whatever worries or aches I bring to this place seem small and unworthy when I leave."
Working the streets in Toronto with the homeless, many of whom are working homeless, shows Scanlan the underbelly of our society. Statistically, to give homelessness a frame of reference - Canada spent $20 billion on the Canadian Forces budget in 2010. That equates to 8.5% of federal spending. A mere 1% of Federal spending would solve the problems of all of Canada's homeless people. Now that makes me see RED!
A quote from author George Eliot seems particularly appropriate to Scanlan. "What do we live for, if not to make life less difficult for each other?" Hands on work in a hospice, teaching driving skills to new Canadians, organizing fund raisers, planting gardens, teaching English, volunteering in Costa Rica and Sudan, teaching writing at Millhaven Pen, helping at a therapeutic riding camp for the disabled called Dare to Dream - and these are just some of the months of work for Scanlan. What truly impressed me about this man was how hands on and physical he was in every environment. "At the end of two weeks of horse camp, I am both exhausted and exhilarated."
Scanlan also uses examples throughout of famous benefactors and their stories. He writes about Paul Newman and "Newman's Own" food line (all profits go to charity) and quotes Newman, "I don't think there's anything exceptional or noble in being philanthropic. It's the other attitude that confuses me."
This book is so interesting and timeless. Although there are occasionally statistics and studies, I found it immensely readable, entertaining and informative. It may be coincidence, but many of the causes - dog visitations, water conservation, recycling, Habitat for Humanity, women's rights - are close to my heart and are causes I too have embraced in my small way. And I agree with Ghandi who says, "Poverty is the worst form of violence."
The Scandinavian countries, where policies encourage equality of benefits and services, full employment, gender equality and low levels of social exclusion have figured it out the best. These countries have very high rates of taxation, but a study of life satisfaction had Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands ranked first, second and third in the world. The northern European countries have more or less agreed, as societies, as a matter of public policy, to share.
The need will always be there for individuals to help society as we can, and the generosity of Bill and Melinda Gates, Warren Buffet, Oprah et al, will always have my admiration. But Stephen Lewis and others have long advocated the position that governments too, need to commit. Lewis says, "If the leaders of the G8 countries were to make good on their promise to devote 0.7% of their gross national product to fighting world poverty, the magic figure of $200 billion could be raised and the world's poor would indeed have the food, water and shelter they need." The answer to ending world poverty is government action.
In the meantime, says Scanlan, "keep on volunteering, keep on giving. Do not stop, and in fact, give more. Weave generosity into your daily life..." One bright spot on the volunteering radar of Canada is that teens, in general, volunteer far more than the general population.
- The Horse's Shadow
- Little Horse of Iron
- Big Ben
- The Horse God Built: Secretariat, His Groom, Their Legacy
Who Knew?
Less than a quarter of Canadian citizens taking home salaries of $80,000 or more donate to charity. Those who do offer, on average, $250 a year.
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