Why Donating Could Help You as Much as it Helps Someone Help

You may or may not be surprised to find out that on average, Americans collectively go through almost 20 billion garments a year. Per person that equals out to 68 pieces of clothing and seven pairs of shoes, which is more than one piece of clothing bought each week. If we are able to buy that many new things there’s no reason we couldn’t give away that many old things. However, giving donations is more then getting rid of your old things. While uncluttering and downsizing is a good opportunity for donating, there are a lot more benefits to donating. American Red Cross donations, for example, could always use clothes donations and blood as well as money. Here are the positive effects of giving to charity.

Pleasure
Research shows that people who donate a portion of their belongings activated pleasure centers in the brain. It can make you feel good by not only simplifying your life but letting others enjoy what you have donated. Example, people who gave American Red Cross donations before the Katrina incident were quoted to feel relief and joy at the fact that they did in such a critical time.

Helping others
We have all been in a place where we needed a little help and there’s nothing better then finally being able to provide someone else with the same grace you were shown. Whenever you donate something you’re helping someone else. Even if you never get to see the effects of that help you could know that someone somewhere had a smile on their face because of you.

Tax deduction
On a practical side, you can write off donations when you file your taxes. There are restrictions so you will have to check on those on the IRS website. It’s always great to find ways to reduce the amount of money you have to give to the government and when it’s for a good cause, that’s a win win situation.

Meaning to life
Something about donating helps you to see the big picture. It opens your mind to the world around you which will give your day to day life more meaning and significance. When you can make a difference in somebody’s life, it gives you a purpose for yours.

Generosity
Not only will donating help you to be more generous but it will show your children and those around you what true selflessness is. Research has shown that generosity in children is much more prevalent when parents do things like give to charity and sponsoring children overseas.

Motivation
When your friends and family find out about your charitable donations, it could cause a domino effect and they could find themselves motivated to give as well. If every person would give even a small amount of donation, there would be a huge shift in the world and real change could occur.

Every little bit helps
You have heard this before but it’s no less true when it comes to donations. You don’t need to give $1 million to make a difference. American red cross donations for example work alongside other disaster relief organizations and bring clothes and supplies when needed. What if some of those clothes used to belong to you? Just a few used clothing donations could make a difference in someone’s life.

When you can’t volunteer
We don’t always have the time necessary to be able to volunteer or donate our time in other ways. As much as we would like to, that’s not always feasible with our day to day schedules. However, when this is the case, it doesn’t take much time at all to donate of your material goods and this can help just as much.

So, what happens to your donations?
Different donations can go to various places. American Red Cross donations help people in need every single day as well as large scale disasters. It depends on which cause you were donating to and what exactly it is that you were donating.

So, try it out. Give just a little bit and see how that one selfless act could change who you are for the better.