Why I Give to CSEC: Thomas Weston, Assistant Business Manager, Athletics
My wife and I are lucky enough to be able to afford to give and we want to help others. We choose to give primarily locally for half of our gift. Two local organizations we really believe in are the Covenant Soup Kitchen, which feeds the homeless in downtown Willimantic and WAIM, the Windham Area Interfaith Ministry, a homeless shelter that provides goods as well as shelter.
The other half we give in lieu of Christmas gifts to family. I’m the youngest of nine and a while ago we all agreed not to give gifts, because we really didn’t need anything. Since my wife and I were already giving money to the CSEC, we decided to start earmarking our donations to charities that have a particular meaning to each family member.
For instance, The Ronald McDonald House has a connection to my brother, because he and his wife met while working at McDonalds. Sometimes it’s geographic — another brother lives in Torrington so we give to the United Way of Northwest Connecticut, which does a lot of good work in that area. And then, mom was always a big Paul Newman fan, so we donate to Hole in the Wall Gang in her honor.
The pledge form has a space where you can choose an “in honor of” or an “in memoriam” box. It does mean we have to do a separate form for each honoree, but it’s worth it. The charities send thank you notes, which generally go out during the month of December. But in case they haven’t gotten the acknowledgement yet, we also put a little piece note in the Christmas card we send to each person.
That would be my suggestion to those who have friends or relatives who don’t need a gift —honor them in a way that helps those in need.
For more information, contact: Paula Enderle at 860-486-0379 or paula.enderle@uconn.edu