When I was growing up, my Mother and Father always taught us the Biblical principle of tithing. Not only that, we were taught that as a child of God, we should give an offering on top of our tithe.
So as a 7-year-old, each week I gave 10¢ of my 25¢ allowance as my tithe and offering.
So later on, at NICABM, we made it a cornerstone of our organization that we would give back and do what we can to make this world a better place . . .
. . . and each year, I appreciate more and more how rewarding it is to support the good work that so many people and organizations are doing.
I’m sharing that list here in the hope that it will inspire others.
Here’s what we’ve given this year:
- $50,000 – Support for Syrian Refugees via Save the Children
- $46,000 – Cyclone Relief in Mozambique via Save the Children
- $20,000 – The Citizens Foundation
- $20,000 – Women and Girls fund at Save the Children
- $10,000 – Amnesty International
- $10,000 – Covenant Soup Kitchen
- $10,000 – Holy Family Home & Shelter
- $10,000 – International Rescue Committee
- $10,000 – Windham Area Interfaith Ministry
- $10,000 – Windham No Freeze Shelter
- $6,000 – American Near East Refugee Aid
- $6,000 – Direct Relief
- $5,035 – Community Foundation – Windham Women and Girls Fund
- $5,000 – Center for Medicare Advocacy
- $5,000 – Connecticut Public Broadcasting Network
- $5,000 – GLAD (Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders)
- $5,000 – Habitat for Humanity
- $5,000 – Human Rights Campaign
- $5,000 – Human Rights Watch
- $5,000 – Joshua’s Trust
- $5,000 – New England Public Radio
- $5,000 – OXFAM America
- $5,000 – Provincetown Film Society
- $5,000 – Salvation Army
- $5,000 – Smile Train
- $4,000 – UCONN Foundation – Jorgensen
- $3,500 – Willimantic Athletic Club – Frogtoberfest Run
- $2,000 – Barre Center for Buddhist Studies
- $2,000 – Benton Art Museum
- $2,000 – Insight Meditation Community of Washington, DC
- $2,000 – Sierra Club
- $2,000 – Windham Area Interfaith Ministry
- $2,000 – World Wildlife Foundation
- $1,100 – Mansfield Downtown Partnership
- $1,000 – Alzheimers Association
- $1,000 – American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
- $1,000 – E.O. Smith High School Robotics Team
- $1,000 – Mansfield Holiday Fund
- $1,000 – Massachusetts General Hospital Fund
- $1,000 – Michigan State University
- $1,000 – NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Health)
- $1,000 – Preemptive Love Coalition
- $1,000 – Provincetown Art Association and Museum
- $1,000 – Taylor University
- $1,000 – The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp
- $500 – Our Companions
- $360 – Charity Water
- $200 – Integrated Day Charter School
- $200 – Oasis Legal Services
- $200 – Wikimedia Foundation (Wikipedia)
Total: $306,095
As I look over this list, I already hope to exceed this next year.
That’s why we’ll be announcing our Holiday Special very shortly.
It’s a favorite tradition at NICABM to lower the price of one of our programs and more importantly, to give half of the proceeds to charity.
I’ll have more to say about that soon.
But in the meantime, I’d love to hear about the good work that you support during this season of giving. Please tell me about it in the comments below.
The spiralling good will of your tithing gives me such pleasure Ruth, knowing that my own purchases have contributed to this generosity.
tysm 4 sharing
Wow! That is impressive. Good on you!
tyvm 4 lettng us know
Thank you for your kind generosity. You deeply touch my heart
♥️
Elaine
It is not always about donations but lending hands that is volunteering your time. For four years I volunteered as a Social Policy Advisory Committee to reduce poverty in the city I live in. I had worked with First Nations people and many other vulnerable populations. I advocated for First Nations people now my city has an Urban Indigenous group to solve their communities poverty and other issues. I did advocate for other groups but didn’t manage to make something happen. I volunteered my time on a Refugee Task Force (faith based organization for a Syrian family a rewarding experience.
Every year your list of donations are a joy to behold… here at Intra-family Trauma Resource Network, Inc (ITRN) our giving is mostly in the form of “no fee for services”… Thanks for asking.
Ed Sibley, MA Psych Counseling (Trauma Focused)
Worcester, MA, USA
Wow! I am very impressed. I live by the same principles, but it seems rare to fine others of the same mind in our field! God bless!!
I’m so proud of your work, your generosity, your knowledge. We are living in interesting times, where putting faith, hope and courage to practical use is of paramount importance. Thank you one and all for a world of good.
Congratulations on your commitment to teach beyond your own realm and help many!
Your parents did well by you. And you affirmed for yourself the kind of person you want to be.
My grandmother told me long ago that the stars of night are holes through which our loved ones, who have passed on, can occasionally look through to see what we are up to. May those who love you and can see you rejoice in who your are on this earth.
I give to In Touch Ministries throughout the year because they run several programs. One of them has an outreach in the Amazon and gives small devices in different languages so that all people have access to the Bible.
I have given to my local park foundation which provides junior scientist programs for children to learn outdoors about nature. And to Best Friends Animal shelter in very southern Utah. I used to do much volunteer work myself, but now I volunteer to take care of two elderly parents with dementia–it is quite a job and a mostly thankless one, but in the long-run I can see how I also benefit from doing this work. Ihelp people to realize their spirit daily, and we share through humor if nothing else.
Thank you for reminding all of us about the need to tithe. Your choices awe me because so many people from all walks of life will benefit from such profound generosity. At this time especially when we hear so much hate-filled speech, this news reminds me that there is goodness all around.
I wholeheartedly support JustFaith Ministries, JustFaith.org, a nation-wide Ministry that seeks to transform lives as topical issues are discussed in a safe setting—through the lens of faith. In my own community of Kalamazoo, Michigan, we have studied hunger, immigration and climate change. The net impact is that we are building community at the same time we find ways to impact crucial issues. I have a deeper faith as I’m called to action!
Thank you for making the difference that gives special meaning to this time of year.
Nancy Servoss
Kalamazoo, MI
Nservoss@sbcglobal.net
Thank you for this, truly.
Wow! What an impressive list!
Please consider giving to Stephanie Becker Fund. Our mission is to create parity between mental health and physical health. We’re working with many organizations, including an endowed scholarship at the University of Pennsylvania to improve mental health, AFSP, NAMI, JED and many others. Your donations help us do even more! See more info at StephanieBeckerFund.com or email me at PBecker8@gmail.com. #StopSuicide. Thank you!
Patti Becker
I love seeing this. Thanks for sharing. I have been giving free shamanic sessions this year and gave to Salvation Army, Chicago food , international Christian university and AFS international as well as save the children , donors choose and various environmental organizations. Ejl
beautiful, thank you for your generosity and for my edification. Happy Holidays
I also apply these principles to my practice and personal life…really blessed to see that you also do. ‘The life of the generous gets larger and larger…’
Thank you for supporting so many important organizations and the people that they serve!
I have frequently thought a discussion of What Our Parents Did Right would be interesting. So often we look back on mistakes our parents made. My strong memory of peaceful meals is something I admire that my parents really rocked! We had home cooked dinners every evening with food from our garden or canned from the garden very often. The peaceful key was very small portions for small tummies. One tablespoon of each food item began the meal. If you wanted more of any of the choices you had to finish those tiny portions first. If you did not like the food you were allowed to put applesause on the food and you could close your eyes and hold your nose as you ate that particular food. Down the hatch it went! No disagreements because the rules were so clear. (I did understand that these practices were not to be used elsewhere.)
I believe the discussions and love I felt around the dinner table was the basis for the foundation of my life. I learned to like almost all foods too and that is a plus when traveling. Eating needs to be a joyous time and my parents provided that each evening. May their memory be a blessing.
Wow! An impressive track record of donating. Congratulations and the best of the season to everyone.
In lieu of Christmas presents this holiday, we have asked our adult children to make a donation to the Look For The Good Project as our gift. This non-profit organization has created a school-wide program for K-6th Grade students which proves the effectiveness of Gratitude, Looking for Good, and acknowledging Good in others. In just seven years, this program has generated two million messages of Gratitude written by over 120,000 grade school students in 30 states in our United States. The results have been significant, with a 76% increase in kindness and a 71% decrease in bullying. Let’s encourage every grade school in our country to include this two-week Look for the Good Project in their curriculum for our children.
I am amazed at how much money you must be making to gave so much to charity!
Thank you for your generosity and kindness❤️ You offer a shining example of how to show up and be your highest self in these times when many of our leaders are not only selfish but cruel.
After a years training by the Quakers of Great Britain (under the auspices of the World Council of Churches) I was selected and sent, as part of the EAPPI program, to be a Humanitarian Witness and a Protective Presence to vulnerable Palestinians.
Our primary role being to witness and report to the UN on all violations of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Laws carries out by Israel in its Illegal (UN Statement) occupation of Palestine.
With my team of three (one from Norway and one from Austria) we spent three months witnessing daily as the Israeli army demolished Palestinian homes, tents, sheep pens, vegetable fences, clinics, schools and water wells. All on the pretext that they were built without planning permission. My team personally witnessed every single one of the above violations of Human Rights.
At any given time there are over 700 under age Palestinian children held illegally in Israeli prisons without trial (see UN child detentions in Palestine and Israel)
The iniquitous permit system that is used to control every Palestinians right to work. The check point system, with its facial recognition cameras, which totally controls all Palestinian movement within their own country and between families.
The aim of the illegal occupation is to force the Palestinians off their own land and to annexe and fill it with Jews. They do this via the illegal (UN Statement) Settlement system and there are now over three quarters of a million illegal Israeli settlers living on stolen land inside Occupied Palestine (an area smaller than Wales in England)
However none of this compares to what Israel has done to Gaza.
May I respectfully suggest that you investigate the MAP Charity (Medical Aid for Palestinians) to gain a further insight into the true situation inside Gaza? I see there is absolutely no recognition of Palestinian suffering in any of your many charitable contributions.
The Illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine is in 52nd year and is the current longest running occupation in the world. In spite of American and Israeli efforts to manipulate the figures there are at present over 6 million Palestinian refugees world wide. A truly staggering number of people to have been forcibly evicted from their homeland (see UN Palestinian refugee total figures)
Yet this is the most under reported humanitarian injustice in the world.
Whatever you could contribute to assist those suffering would be a wonderful gift.
Nick Georges.
Well what an amazing contribution to the happiness of others.I truely believe that no matter how small together it can change a world .Thank you
Argine weir
I have benefited from your generosity when you offer free access. As a spiritual director (not a therapist) who charges little, and as a healing human myself, I am grateful to you.
Tithing is important to me too, and I thank you for offering both the example and the transparency of showing to whom you donate.
Wishing you happiness and health,
Jane
Thank you for this year!
I have also given and followed many christian organizations who have worked with very traumatized people f.ex like slumchildren in Nepal, refugees in Greece, victims of human trafficking in Cyprus and Cambodia- and visited some of the places. Also worked with people who have worked in difficult situations in difficult environments.
They need all the support they can have!
So thank you for everyone who have blessed others by giving and other ways. It’s making the Christmas gospel to become alive??️??
Sirkku
This impresses me deeply! Thank you for sharing this- I support you even more than ever!
I love to support organizations that support women and children. Thrive and Haven in Bozeman, MT. I also support conscious Autistic organizations that have Autistic people on their board or at the helm. Thank you for all you do. I’d love to see more of your money go to suicide prevention in the US. We have an epidemic in Montana.
Thank you for all the good work you do. May the blessings of giving increase the good work you do.
Shahina
Thank you for all that you and everyone in NICABM are doing. I have been blessed.
I have donated to a number of organisations especially Christian charities and organisations around the world. I really appreciate their hard and enduring work in helping and supporting those who are in need and persecution of all sorts.
May this Christmas brings peace, comfort and joy to all. ??
Wonderful. And you’ve also give so much to those of us who have shared in your wonderful work. Thank you. And many blessings to you and all who are part of NICABM.
What an impressive range of causes you give to! I also work toward a tithe in my giving. God bless you!
In Winnipeg Manitoba Canada there are many homeless folks. An important initiative helps folks with food insecurity. Pantry held its first book sale fundraiser.
Mostly Every year my husband and I open our heart and home for friends alone or without food to join us for share-a -meal during Christmas season ??
I support the TCV (tibétain children village) helping children to get éducation and continue studies. I began this there s 10 years ago while I was in à very bad personal situation, but this was so important for me. I have my 1rst book re-published and as I m not now in this theme of this book, I décided to not ré-publish it but people ask for it. So I decided to both serve people by accepting this new publication and serve TCV asking my publisher to give up all my rights for tibetan children.
Another cause important for me is trees and animals. And I will support an organisation for this.
Ruth, It wasn’t till I left a “Home / Parents”, that were in a constant state of “Disarray”, was able to look back on the “Need’s of others” Through Loving Kindness, Compassion, and Stepping into this World, with an “Open Heart, &, Open Mind, to see what I might be able to do for those around me ! Peace be with you !
Right now I am not giving anything this season. I have decided to save. Saving the money of expensive gifts and gifting an experience, cutting back on personal spending, sending ecards instead of paper carda so I can save to create a therapy house for those suffering from trauma who need respite to stop, breathe and to feel again.
It is wonderful to see that giving is an important part of your mandate and that you do indeed spread a lot of seed, so to speak! Looking forward to what is to come!
Sisterhood of salaam Shalom, we did feel a purse campaign for homeless youth. I also cook and feed homeless women Mary House Sacramento monthly. Filled blessing bags for the Muslim food bank…It’s mostly around the homeless issue as far as in-kind then donations in other places
PWRDF, a world relief and development organization.
Climate control is an overwhelming issue for each and everyone of us. People appear to be in denial around it. All our other good works pale before it. A ten year window is about all we have and yet the realities have not moved people to organize and demand action. Money is not all. The migratory crisis will be overwhelming as coastal areas are swamped and become uninhabitable
That is fantastic. Jerry Blume
I founded and direct an amazing non profit, Animals as Natural Therapy, working with hundreds of youth, touching a thousand elders and a handful of veterans each year. Our precious animals are the key to touching the most hurting of hearts. I feel very blessed to be able to give of my own financial resources, part of my home and farm, as well as my time and talents to make hope possible for many who have few resources for healing from trauma and life obstacles.
Dear Ruth,
I am so touched and aware of the wide blanket you cast in your caring and sharing!
Thank you for being you.
We are all blessed by your presence !
Much love in the new decade!
Judy
Very impressed with your generosity.
Blessings to all, Stella from Winnipeg, Cananda
Good work! Don’t forget the teachers who are using your resources this year at our own expense!
Mercy For Animal’s. It is my number one “give” every year. This organization has done amazing work to improve the lives of factory farm animals in our country and now, around the world. I am in awe of their compassion and tireless work.
It would be great if you could help Grandparents obtain custody when a child is faced with foster care to avoid additional trauma and/or help grandparents and the children with therapy! Therapeutic visitation has no defined practices!
New Life Center,a DV shelter in Goodyear, AZ
Palm Valley Church
Streetlight, a home to help victims of sex trafficking
Habitat for Humanity
Smile Train
American Cancer Society
From Darkness to Light, sexual abuse prevention