The one resource we can all give.
“I heard so many people saying they need help. But I don’t have much money. I don’t have many connections. What can I do?”
An aspect of that quote was shared by someone today as 50 community leaders left a nonprofit facility in our city.
I am involved with a city exploration program put on by our city chamber. Once a month, we gather and tour different functions of the city, how they work, and the people who works within them.
Today, we had the chance to engage with a pastor who has a church, multiple ministries, various business, and a grand vision to be the “one stop shop for a persons needs.”
The presentation left everyone inspired, and curious. We walked away with sense of pride, but bewilderment because we didn’t even know that that ministry did so many things in the community for the past 15 years.
More importantly, many of us didn’t know it existed.
As we headed back to the bus to depart to our next destination, I overheard someone say they didn’t know what to do next with the organization and information that they heard.
So here’s what I said in responds, in a few words or less…
- We just heard about this place, we can be the ones to let others know about it too.
- We may not have resources, but people in our networks might. So let’s make connections.
- If you have time, use it. If you have items, give it. If you have knowledge, share it.
Sometimes we think we need to provide some grand gesture to help out, but we often don’t have a lot to give.
People think that “giving” means money and resources. Yes, and! Giving is also time. Which is something we all have.
Time to shout out.
Time to connect with others.
Time to share love.
Time to study up on the issues.
Time to care.
We can be creative with our resource of time and offer it in a way that can support others greatly.
And that is something we all can do.
I want y’all to take a moment and think about how you are using your time to amplify a need in your community.
Could you post it on your social media feed?
Could you intentionally reach out to someone who can help?
Could you just check in with that service and ask “what do you need?”
We are the network that advances and elevated the initiatives in our city.
And with our resource of time, we will all benefit from it.
