Charity and the coins in your pocket
GIVING: Is the public charitable, or are we ungrateful?
HAVE you ever given a thought to the coins in your pocket? My thoughts were triggered because the society I work with has a spiral well placed in a local shopping mall. Our wishing well, as it is aptly called, allows people to drop their coins, as a donation towards our non-profit organisation. Both young and old find it amusing to watch coins spiral down the well at different speeds depending on the size of the coin. In addition, it lightens the weight in your pocket and, more importantly, it’s a charitable deed. A feel good thing… I’ve done my part.
We at the society are thankful for all those people whom we will never know or meet, who have emptied their pockets for us.
At the same time, what upsets us minimally is that our Wishing Well has been used as a litter bin. The surface of the well is sometimes in a sorry state unlike the ones I’ve seen in Australia, which are spotless. Will we Malaysians ever learn?
When we do our fortnightly collection, we now have to use gloves to collect the coins. We often find, among the coins, remnants of drinks, ice-cream wrappers and sticks, sweets, sharp objects, rusty broken blades, dirty tissues, wrappers, the occasional toy and even a set of keys! Our last collection revealed a cigarette butt which had blackened the surrounding coins and notes. Each time, we have to wash the gunk off the coins.
And sadly, shopkeepers with whom we exchange the coins for notes don’t want blackened coins. from the or deposited into the
Harassed bank tellers cringe when they see us bringing in coins, but they will oblige if we can leave the coins and come back the next day for the deposit slip. Still not too bad.
It is amusing to know that many people carry on them defaced, one sen and RM1 coins, as well as amusement centre tokens. Now, what should we do with these? Is the public charitable, or are we ungrateful?
A thought on fund raising sales — they are not to enrich our pockets but to sustain our work for the betterment of a charity that we believe in. Only workers of non governmental organisations and charities will know what it’s like to stand on the other side of the table for 12 hours a day in a shopping mall, sacrificing time spent with our families (yes, we do have our own lives too), taking quick meals and breaks, hoping and praying it would be a day of good sales.
While we understand that our products and craft may not appeal to everyone, what we hope is for people to care enough or be curious enough
at a shopping mall in Malacca. (Inset) to approach our counter. You need not buy anything if you don’t want to but understanding our cause and why we do what we do just makes the world a better place.
What hurts is when you spot someone you know from a distance (and they have seen you too!) and they decide to make a detour for fear of being obliged to buy something or drop money in the donation box.
No, that’s not how we (and I speak for my organisation) operate. Then there are the sweetest of humans who stop to visit, can’t find anything they like but buy something anyway because it’s charity and it comes from the heart.
How can we instill the spirit of community service in our youth since many adults are too busy? When students have finished their major exams, teachers organise trips to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) or homes to “create” awareness to the younger generation about the underprivileged. How is this possible if one spends only about two hours at these centres? Some students are forced to participate, and the NGO is supposed to come out with a fantastic programme to instill good values and change their mindset within that time? Wishful thinking!
Which brings me to another thought. Charity organisations are remembered most during festive occasions. An annual time for giving and sharing? A public relations exercise so to speak. Dress to the nines, display your pearly whites to the flashing cameras, then the charity is out of sight, out of mind.
What happens for the rest of the year? While we understand the current economic situation and everyone’s tightening their budget, charities suffer the most. How do we remain positive when everything else looks bleak? You may have plunging sales figures but if we can’t pay the rent, for example, we’ll literally be out of a home.
Reality is scary. Que sera sera.
The writer
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