OMG it’s starting. The holiday blues! Last evening a Publix commercial reduced me to tears. The characters were a little girl, a snowman stuck inside and an elderly man. Just this morning, the majority of my Facebook friends expressed their grief over missing family members who are not here to celebrate the holidays with them.
Every December I feel a little blue. I blame my mom who was always down at the holidays. For her, it was memories of World War II, when her friends would ship out and never return. Bing Crosby’s “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” sent her over the edge. She did suck it up for my brother and me when we were little, but as we got older it was harder for her.
But, there is hope! After two decades at United Way, I’ve discovered a great tool in my arsenal to battle the holiday blues … giving back and gratitude.
Giving back feels SO good. It’s good for your health too, easing depression and anxiety. Endorphins are released that can help your immune and nervous system. There is actually a “helpers high” that shows up on an MRI of your brain.
My favorite quote has always been, “There is no better exercise for your heart than reaching down and lifting someone up.” In all my years at United Way of Pickens County, no one has ever said to me, “I feel really bad about that donation I made to help a child learn to read or feed a family!” I personally have never experienced “donor’s remorse.”
I have a definite plan around my own personal charitable giving. Of course, I always support United Way of Pickens County…through both payroll deduction and an “end of year” stock gift. While some donors like to restrict their gift to a specific program like Camp iRock, many others let our volunteer community impact team decide where their gift will “do the most good”.
Like giving back, gratitude is another “blues-buster.” In my long career, I have discovered there are two types of donors; the ones who want to remain anonymous and the ones who enjoy a little “donor love”- something I just LOVE to give. I love our donors and it is number one priority to make sure they feel it.
During the height of the pandemic all communication was through emails and texts…and occasionally the dreaded ZOOM. It was isolating and lonely. One day, I decided to call donors. What fun! A couple of folks were obviously shocked and a little wary of my intentions. Others, like me…were starving for human contact. Having the chance to express my gratitude to these donors personally truly lifted my spirits. I think it lifted theirs too! Now that I am back in the office full time, I still make time to call my donors. I want them to know how grateful I am for their caring hearts.
Someone once told me to “give till it hurts”. I have news for them. Giving is wonderful. Giving will change your life. Giving NEVER hurts anyone.
If you want to make a year-end gift to United Way of Pickens County or any of our amazing programs like Camp iRock and Pathways to Prosperity, go to our website, www.uwpickens.org or call me. My direct line is 864-850-7094 x101 and my email is jcapaldi@uwpickens.org. Check out our new United Way Holiday Gift Catalog on the website. It’s so much fun and I promise you will change someone’s life and it will feel really, really good!
Happy Holidays.
Julie Capaldi is the president of the United Way of Pickens County. Reach her at jcapaldi@uwpickens.org. Opinions expressed in this column are those of the writer only and are not necessarily shared by the newspaper.