We have always liked to give, and are trying to get our son, now 7, in the habit. We are especially energized to do something big when it has a lasting impact, or can multiply the impact for others.
I've told this story here before, but it was really our aha moment in thinking this way...
DW and I were deeply involved with our local food bank. We lived in a very small town, and while the people who came for help were strangers, they could not have lived more than 10 minutes from us. The 2008 financial crisis put the need into overdrive, and lots of wonderful people got inventive to meet that need.
Our first step, for those who might remember, was to ride the couponing wave. We were giving a decent amount directly to the food bank in cash, but DW saw a way to utilize her skill to magnify that value. This also mated up with silly outcomes that the coupon multiplying gave: who needed 30 toothbrushes?!? Why, we could use them! Nontraditional donations, sure, but the toiletries are needed just as much. We turned $10 a week into $100 a week in donations, all targeted by feedback from the volunteers at the food bank on items people were requesting, or that they ran out of. We also were upfront with a local Kroger; upon presenting evidence that we were gathering for charity, they began to coordinate with us, ordering what we needed and setting some aside if it was likely to sell out.
Of course, that bubble popped after reality TV shows started to cover it. Our Kroger was so well-known for their coupon policies that groups of people would drive from the neighboring state to clear them out. Things went back to normal, and we pondered our next move.
One thing we didn't like is that the food pantry tended to give juice--or "juice," meaning less than 100%--as drinks, because it was shelf stable. We really felt the children in the families, particularly, would benefit from having a regular supply of milk. This would require supply, of course, but also a cooler to hold all those gallons. The idea was solid, but the price tag was daunting. I had my eyes open for a commercial, sliding cooler we could get on the cheap, to get started.
About that time, the food pantry got a new leader, who was a breath of fresh air. She was charismatic, dedicated, and open to ideas in a group that, being fairly small, had been becoming stale in their approach. At some function or another, I mentioned to New Leader our observation on the "juice," and our idea for milk. She agreed, having the same frustration about it, and added: "We could get the milk for free from the government. We just don't have a place to put it!" Lightning struck. Being that close to an answer made the decision so easy for me and DW. We said right there for them to find what they wanted, and let us know.
They picked out a residential unit, with one chamber, but that could be a fridge or freezer as needed, so that they could adjust to the donations they got. While they were moving fixtures around, they found out their existing fridge's coils were encased in solid ice (on the back--that old) and on death's door. Heck, make it 2! The $1,500 for the two of them was 3x what our annual giving was to them, but the knowledge that these would allow the solving of a gap in their service permanently made it one of the easiest donation decisions we ever made.
I've been seeking out opportunities like that ever since.
