Charitable giving
One Direction reduced to tears
In Friday’s post I mentioned the fundraising efforts of British boy band One Direction on behalf of Red Nose Day, following their recent trip to Accra, Ghana. Now they have produced two commercials for the Comic Relief fundraiser. In these they explain emotionally how babies they saw dying from malaria in Africa could have been spared suffering by means of vaccinations costing just £5 each. The first clip stars Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson: Harry Styles and Liam Payne star in the second.
These guys seem to genuinely care!
Harry Styles bakes cupcakes for charity
On several occasions in the past this blog has featured the generosity of the Brit Awards ‘Global Success Award’ winners One Direction (in particular, Harry Styles). The boy band’s latest exploit concerns Red Nose Day – a charity initiative its members have been supporting since their recent visit to Ghana. The poverty there made a big impression on the lads, and as can be seen above, Harry has now been inspired to bake cupcakes in honour of the fundraising event, which will take place on Friday the 15th of March 2013, with the theme of ‘do something funny for money’.
Happiness Tree
As most of you probably know by now, yesterday was Generosity Day (as well as Valentine’s Day). Churches, shops, cafés, restaurants and pubs in Wokingham, Berkshire, UK, celebrated by launching a new project, The Happiness Tree, which is the brainchild of The Cultural Partnership: MoreArts. Each of the participants did a good deed for a customer, then passed on a wooden baton decorated with details of the deed. Around 80-100 batons were distributed, and these will be passed around the borough, collecting details of all the good things people have done to help others. They are to be returned to Wokingham’s Information Centre (in the Town Hall) by Monday the 25th of March, after which they will be used to create a tree, due to be unveiled on Good Friday. Meanwhile, the batons’ travels are being documented via the Twitter hashtag #wokyhappytree. Proceeds are going to charity. What a lovely fundraising idea (as well as an interesting social experiment) – and one that should be copied elsewhere, I think.
Tomorrow is Generosity Day 2013
Open your hand. Open your heart. Cultivate generosity. (The Mussar Institute)
Don’t forget that tomorrow is Generosity Day 2013 – the rebooted Valentines Day. Its originator Sasha Dichter reports that “the momentum is building fast”, and he recommends visiting www.facebook.com/generosityday for an update, or to share your Generosity Day stories.
What you may not know, however, is that Alan Morinis’ Mussar Institute has also designated February 17th-22nd as Generosity Week.
Mussar is a Jewish system of spiritual practice that focuses on developing various character traits, and GENEROSITY is one of these. The Institute has therefore set aside six days when practitioners can make their efforts a little more public than usual… in the hope that others will be attracted to the discipline. You don’t have to be a Jew to practice Mussar.
On the basis that it’s the frequency of giving rather than the quantity that really makes a difference (repetition being the key, as in weightlifting), participants will be encouraged to ‘give’ 18 times in six days. They’ll also be asked to write about how this feels (noting, particularly, any resistance, and the reactions of others), and to report their experiences on Facebook.
You can sign up for Generosity Week either by completing the form on the Institute’s website or by emailing them at generosity@mussarinstitute.org.
Harry Styles delivering pizzas
Harry Styles recently spent a day delivering Domino’s pizzas. But the pop heartthrob who celebrates his 19th birthday today wasn’t trying to supplement his income as a singer with boy band One Direction. In fact, he spent several thousand dollars on the pizzas, a few months ago, which he then delivered personally to LA’s homeless. Harry – who has recently hit the headlines for shedding tears over the world’s poor – is rapidly becoming known as the band’s chief philanthropist, and he has even been compared to Bob Geldof. Add to this his recent interest in philosophy and one suspects that this teen could become quite a force to be reckoned with.
