I’ll be the first one to admit that I don’t follow politics as closely as I probably should. Yesterday I made it a point to take an hour to watch some of the Inauguration festivities, including President Obama’s speech. One of the recurring themes I noticed throughout his speech was that we need to start doing a better job of looking out for each other. In other words, increase our sense of community, not just within the United States, but with all humanity, within the world.
On a personal note, I made a decision at the end of December, that I was going to donate as much as 5% of my income to some form of charity. I asked what I refer to as my extended family (family and close friends) if they had any suggestions on where to look. Of the many causes recommended to me, there were two that really stuck out.
They both allow you to choose different areas within or outside of the country to donate to and AlternativeGifts.org allows you to donate to specific causes (e.g. New Water Wells for Nomadic People in Africa), which I thought was pretty cool.
I understand that the current economy may make it tough to think about GIVING away money. While I still think it’s worth finding a way to do, I recognize that you may not be so easily convinced. With that in mind, here are three self-serving reasons to donate money to a charity:
Could you live off 99% of your current income? If you can, consider taking 1% of your next paycheck and donating it to a cause of your choice. You may find it comes back to you in unexpected ways.
Back to hockey tomorrow…
Kevin has rapidly established himself as a leader in the field of physical preparation and sports science for ice hockey. He is currently the Head Performance Coach for the Boston Bruins, where he oversees all aspects of designing and implementing the team’s performance training program, as well as monitoring the players’ performance, workload and recovery. Prior to Boston, Kevin spent 2 years as an Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach for the San Jose Sharks after serving as the Director of Performance at Endeavor Sports Performance in Pitman, NJ. He also spent 5 years as a Strength and Conditioning Coach with USA Hockey’s Women’s Olympic Hockey Team, and has been an invited speaker at conferences hosted by the NHL, NSCA, and USA Hockey.