Giving Tuesday

Giving Tuesday LogoI thought I could list, off the top of my head, the charitable institutions I support. Nope. I checked last year’s tax return, & I would’ve missed a few. As it turns out, other than recycling/decluttering donations, almost all of the charities I support have to do with learning. The obvious ones: Santa Cruz Montessori, Stanford University, Wikimedia, Kirby. The not so obvious ones: Yellowstone Association (education is actually their main mission), Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre (the associated studio is for-profit, so to support the learning of classical ballet locally, I support SCBT). And possibly least obvious, Santa Cruz Mountains Trail Association, to which I donate time and sweat at the monthly trail maintenance days. Their charter doesn’t include learning, but I’ve learned a lot by volunteering for them.

Is this true for everyone? Does everyone donate to institutions primarily concerned with learning or education? Or is it the nature of charitable institutions to have a strong education component? And if the latter is true, what does that say about our society?

Cogitate, give, and enjoy on this Giving Tuesday! #givingtuesday #Stanford