Giving away something you’ve earned can seem difficult, especially when that very thing is what keeps you alive and functioning in society, money of course.  Still, certain charities continue to successfully raise millions, even billions of dollars each year, such as The United Way with 3.6 Billion in private donations, or Direct Relief reaching 2 Billion in the last year (Barret, 2020). This compels the question, why are so many people driven to make donations? In this blog we will attempt to uncover the answer, based on a survey of 15 individuals, and journal analysis.

Trust 

Trust. If the donors can form a relationship with the organization they are donating to and can understand exactly where their money is going to, they are highly inclined to donate again.  Therefore, charities must focus on being completely transparent with where their funds are being allocated. 

Tax Benefits

Many individuals and companies regularly partake in making large donations to registered charities to decrease their income tax yearly. With companies such as Walmart donating over $400 million to registered Canadian Charities over the past 25 years (Walmart Canada). A clear guide on how to claim Tax deductible donations is offered through the Canada revenue agency, just follow the link here.

  Egoism/Social purposes

        Altruism

Oxford lists the definition of Altruism as being “the belief in or practice of disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being of others”.This was the most common reason of giving among those surveyed, as they stated they felt compassion towards those in need or towards the less fortunate. With one individual stating “I’d rather do something kind for someone else than for myself” and another individual making a similar comment “’the feeling you are fortunate enough to help someone in need”.

Religion

Last but not least, a few individuals claimed religion to be their purpose. The following are two of the replies I got, “God pervades in every living soul so why not give back to the Great Giver by donating”, and another simply responding with “religion”. No religion is against charitable giving, with many even stating a minimum requirement. In Islam, the Zikat states they must donate 2.5% of the wealth yearly (Islamic relief) , many Christians and Jews believe in the principle of tithing (Christianity.com), which means giving 10% of their earning, similarly for Sikhs, a principle called the Dasvandh is followed where they either donate 10% of their income or 10% of their time in the form of volunteering (Sikhiwiki).

While it may seem, there is a right or a wrong reason for donating, in my opinion every reason is valid, as it is providing someone with a meal or a roof over their head that they wouldn’t have gotten otherwise. If we didn’t have our yearly contributors who donate for tax benefits or to enhance their reputation, a little girl may not have gotten an education. Therefore, we must look at it as a sort of necessary incentive and view the outcomes to be far more beneficial than the reason for the inputs.      

Introduction

As an 18-year-old starting a new job, knowing my largest strength was that I simply had a strong pull to simply help people, I was shockingly superficial to problems I saw all around me. With my problem-solving experience being largely based off of high school mathematics, I understood how to identify an issue, and work towards fixing it, but never stopped to realize, that perhaps I should be considering the root cause. This was a skill I would gradually come to learn and apply in my 16 months after that first day. In this blog I will highlight how my perspective was altered by this change in mindset.

At the Clinic 

It seemed as if pain was everywhere, being a college student with horrible posture, everyone I knew had back pain, my parents dealt with neck pain from driving, the cashier I met at shoppers had lower back pain, and lastly even my bus driver had Sciatica. I began thinking constant pain was the norm, everyone dealt with it, I had to just put it in the back of your mind and try to forget about it.

At this heightened time of acceptance, I conveniently got a job with a Chiropractor, how ironic I know. Something I realized right away was these patients were improving gradually, some quickly, others took longer.  Although this rivaled against what I had thought to be true, I was fascinated.

Chiropractic works on identifying the cause of the pain, rather than treating it. For example, many patients don’t realize that the pain they get shooting down the back of their thigh might have come from their Sacro-iliac joints or even the lower lumbar vertebrae.  After treating the patient at the source, you see relief, as the pain radiating away from the back subsides. This can work for other areas of the body too, such as shoulder pain, which is extremely common, especially if you’re an avid driver or writer, can be coming from a vertebra in the neck. Lastly there are many subluxations (a slight misalignment) that the patient hasn’t even realized yet, but for sure would have built up and caused discomfort later on.

Chiropractic for the World 

Obviously, I had heard about global issues, I had seen ads on TV, or learnt through social studies class that some countries were still considered as “developing”, these nations had an array of struggles, from healthcare, to education, even starvation. As much as I wished I could change this, it felt hopeless as an individual to create a lasting impactful change, when the issues can look so overwhelmingly large. Sadly, a part of me believed, there was no way that the people living in these impoverished states could receive the assistance they deserve.

Similarly, to the Clinic story, I began working with a charitable foundation to raise money and directly assist those in need overseas. I saw how a little bit of assistance can go a long way, when treating a bigger issue.

 Helping small portion of the larger problem, such as an paying an individual’s way through school, or assisting a family with funds to buy dinner, up until purchasing an ambulance for a leprosarium, diminish the radiating consequences. 

The Plan

Radiating pain or discomfort has always been the first symptom, whether it’s a common case of Sciatica or the 78% of India who don’t have access to healthcare.  Although the situation, the presence of back pain, or poverty may appear to be gigantic and unsolvable, even small action, as simple as a chiropractic adjustment, or a donation towards a child receiving a hearing aid can drastically cut down radiating effects. After repeated efforts these small actions can add up to big solutions, getting the required amount of chiropractic adjustments can cure your back pain, in the same way small contributions can provide a mobile health care unit which can provide aid to millions.

So, what is the treatment plan for poverty?

Small actions over time, which allow for big unachievable goals to be reached.

What action are you willing to take?