Giving is a good thing

Its that time of year when everyone is doing their taxes and looking back at what last year was for them. Taxes for me are a huge time for reflection. Ignoring the part where you might owe money or where you might get some money back, you can really see a lot of your last year when filing. It will remind you of big life changes that happened. House? Baby? Those can both give you some cause to reflect.

There is another part that I look at - and that is the charitable giving. Yes, its great to have some deductions - but to me its more of making sure that I'm doing what I can, where I can, when I can. I've mentioned before how important I think it is to support local attractions through memberships (we do the zoo, Crocker Museum and American River Natural History Association and I am sure we'll be adding the Train Museum at some point.)

The other parts that are important to me is making sure I am giving to other organizations that support issues I care about and help people I care about. The Epilepsy Foundation is an important one for me because I grew up with childhood epilepsy. My church is another important one for me - because it was such a part of making me who I am today.

The Sam Vincent Foundation, which is named in honor of my cousin and his inspirational passion for cooking, is one I felt was missing the last time I did this "giving check-in" and is important for me. Another one that was missing for me? Parkinson Foundation. My grandmother has Parkinson's Disease, and while I am so thankful she is still here to meet her great-grandchildren, I wish she was able to communicate and play with them they way I know she wants to.

None of the above need to be important to you. But I just wanted to take the time to remind people to look at their charitable contributions and make sure they are accurately reflecting the person who you are. It doesn't have to be money, it can be donations of goods or even your time.

Any readers have any charities that mean a lot to them that they want to share?

Photo from the Library of Congress (and edited in PicMonkey - I am an affiliate so all PicMonkey links are affiliate links.)