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DRIVING CROSSTOWN, my brother and I stopped at an onramp, where a man held a cardboard sign.
“Does anyone give these people money?” my brother asked, then immediately answered his own question by mentioning a friend who hands out bottles of water instead. “Anything helps,” read the man’s sign.
“Sure,” I said. “I’ve seen people pass $5 bills out the window.” A single dollar used to be enough for a panhandler to end his shift and shuffle off to the nearest mini-market. But inflation has changed that.
“I once tried to give a person $5,” my brother started. “Long ago.”
Here we go again, I thought. Another tale from his hippie youth. If it was a story I recognized, I could probably stop him mid-sentence. Thankfully, most stories are short, though the moral of his fables are harder to determine than Aesop’s.
“Oh?” I tried to sound noncommittal. Maybe he’d veer into another topic. World politics perhaps.
“Yes, I was in Jennifer’s car with her and a couple other people. Some guy had a sign, ‘Need $$$.’ I pulled a fiver from my pocket. One moment, I had it in my hand. Next thing I knew, Jennifer was stuffing it into her purse. She drove on without a word.”
“Charity begins at home,” I said, not really sure if this was the moral he had in mind.
“Jennifer was in a hard spell,” he agreed amiably. More than half a century had passed since the day he tried to give a stranger $5, blocked by his friend’s more urgent need. I was hearing about this for the first time, and I’ll remember it, too.
That’s because I’m decumulating, though slowly. My calculations and advisors indicate that I’ve likely saved enough to last for the rest of my natural life and a bit more, even with recent high inflation.
After decades of saving, deciding on a spending target beyond my essential needs isn’t easy. I want to reserve a reasonable amount to cover inevitable errors in my expectations and calculations. I’m not interested in simply leaving behind a legacy for the kids, with a lump sum set aside for the alma mater.
Instead, I’m developing an ongoing, informed altruism toward them and others, while I’m still around to enjoy it. I’m aiming for a style of giving that acknowledges the challenges and delayed gratification involved in any of us saving for an uncertain future. I want an altruism that expresses gratitude for my life and respects its hardships, too. I’m hoping to create value in giving that reflects the effort it took to amass the money involved.
I’ve worked with nonprofits, charities and university advancement offices before. Each fall, I receive gift solicitations, triggered by decades of employment in public agencies and private education, along with a personal history of memberships and annual gifts. I’m not famous, important or rich enough for a building or even a department chair to carry my name, much less an entire hospital or stadium.
Then again, I’ve seen names removed from buildings lately, so a naming gift isn’t something that interests me anymore. Besides, I have the reflected glow of a public works building named after my brother-in-law, a longtime local elected official who saw that potholes were promptly filled and streets repaired.
I could send money to political campaigns. Last fall, requests flooded my inbox and mailbox. That would require me to believe that a campaign’s glossy hit piece, which will likely go straight into the recycling bin, is good compensation for a lifetime of eating homemade sandwiches sitting at my desk.
Instead, I’m amping up past practices, and modifying a strategy learned from my late spouse, who was a professional at giving away money. Literally, it was his job. He worked for a Class I railroad and annually parceled out a portion of his company’s charitable funds across two assigned states. He liked to say that his universe was 25 feet wide and 30,000 miles long, though his territory involved just a portion of that, about 4,500 of those miles.
As a result, he spent much time on the road visiting every burg and fat spot where peoples’ lives and those tracks converged. Over the years, he spoke to thousands of nonprofit executive directors and employees, who explained their agency’s efforts to support local communities, and what they’d do if they had a few dollars more.
Without the funds of a major endowment, and being naturally frugal, my spouse wanted his donations to go a long way. While he’d give to the largest nameplate charities, he capped annual donations at an amount too small to interest most professional grant writers but large enough to make a difference to a lesser charity.
He created a one-page application form, to match the more modest amounts he was doling out and the likelihood that an executive director would be filling out the form. He spread his company’s gifts as widely as possible. He’d end the season with a road trip delivering checks in person, and hosting an annual luncheon for those receiving grants to come together in our city, where they could talk together about their communities, what their agencies were doing and their vision for what might be accomplished next.
I’ve lived a life of donated time and money, and now that I’m retired, I’m ready to do more. Massive, gleaming headquarters for nonprofits trouble me. Soaring spires invoke the same reluctance. I’d rather see a tiny cement clinic at the end of a dirt path. Below is my initial plan for charitable giving. What’s yours? And what am I missing?
Catherine Horiuchi is retired from the University of San Francisco’s School of Management, where she was an associate professor teaching graduate courses in public policy, public finance and government technology. Check out Catherine’s earlier articles.
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This reminds me that when I began my baking career in early ’70s there was flurry of new headquarter buildings being built. It was as if all CEOs had building envy” trying to have the biggest and fanciest building. As buildings were completed and the decade progressed, it became evident that all those banks that spent money on glitz underperformed the others. It was evident that their attention was diverted away from better objectives of operational efficiencies and customer relations.
You say “I’d rather see a tiny cement clinic at the end of a dirt path.” So would I. You may like some of these global charities that work to alleviate extreme poverty around the world while working to lift people up & improve their lives. The beauty is, we can have a profound impact on other people’s lives, people who may not have been as fortunate as we have been, to have had access to a free education, clean drinking water & other basic necessities many of us in the western world have always taken for granted. For people who may not have a lot to give, you can buy some of their gifts for people in dire need, such as a goat, a cow or some chickens, a seeding kit, a baby kit, help a child stay in school & so on….
Concern Worldwide, Goal Global, Oxfam, Unicef, World Vision, International Rescue Committee, Save the Children, Feed the Children, Smile Train, Samaritan’s Purse.
I also love your concern & support for children leaving foster care. This is so important because support stops for many of them at age 18 & many become homeless.
I spent three years in the Peace Corps as a young adult and learned a lot about what it takes to make a difference in a world of dirt paths and cement block buildings.
My husband was big on micro-lending, “loaning” money all over the world, much not paid back, as various countries fell into even more precarious conditions. Some did get paid back, and that always made him feel great. Seeing communities in the wider world, and the lives of people get better, that’s a good feeling, even on the smallest of scales.
So much attention gets placed on the “one dollar a day” “two dollar a day” or so that many people worldwide subsist upon. Unless a person who’s grown up in a modern economy (with all its monetary limitations, cue the affordable housing problem nationwide) spends some time in these other places, it’s difficult to express how little money is actually required to get a hot meal or run a grade school. However, anyone can recognize the dire situation of a person who spends the majority of her waking life trying to access and provide potable water to her family.
“…nearly a billion people worldwide live without access to clean water…” https://www.usaid.gov/six-kilometers-day
So many avenues to improve the lives of others.
Paying for a well to be dug, that’s a simple gift compared to dealing with desertification.
Or what it takes to make a long term difference in the life of a child whose path has included a spell in our nation’s foster care system.
There are no easy solutions to many human challenges. Yet I believe much of the HD community has the time and resources and connections and passion to pick one of these dreadfully sticky problems and work at it over the long haul. I see that confirmed in the choices people have expressed here in this comments thread.
I’m with you in that we have more than enough for the rest of our lives, and we give to our kids now, when they need it the most. We also don’t like the charities in gilded cages, and that includes religion. Most religious organizations and ministers have beautiful buildings, and many are filthy rich. Some have jets and 20,000 sf homes.We’d rather give our money directly to organizations that rank high in Charity Navigator. We favor charities that help children and animals, both of whom rely on others to survive. I use QCD’s to give to my college, which has a program for economically disadvantaged city kids that gets them into college. That’s how I got my college education.
I like reading Krisine Hayes’s articles especially because she is animal-focused (okay, dog-focused.) https://humbledollar.com/2024/12/no-hot-dogs/
One of my kids works at an elementary school.
I totally agree that contributing to those with the least agency to solve their own problems is a good effort. Both children and animals, they have little personal capital to spend on meeting their needs (ergo the importances of sweet voices, smiles, licks, and wagging tails to persuade those of us who do.) If elementary-school-aged children had to build their own buildings and pay for their own teachers, we would have no schools at all. Same for parks and youth sports. Happily, most things young children (and dogs) need, we grownups can enjoy as well.
I favor small non-profits who somehow helped me in my youth, like local public libraries.
I favor other non-profits in which I have developed confidence over the years that they run very efficiently, have humble leaders, and don’t waste money. A few religious charities usually fit in here – Salvation Army, Catholic Charities and Lutheran World Relief, for example.
When I want to do more, and want to expand my circle of donees, I pay attention to three things – administrative costs as a percentage of donations, marketing costs as a percentage of donations, and the percentage of the budget that comes from any governmental entity. These all ought to be VERY low.
Good idea! I hadn’t thought of my local libraries and yet you are right, that was one of the most helpful buildings in my youthful universe.
My brother spent a considerable portion of his working life writing grant proposals to fund his own activities (and that of others). Not only was the proposal writing time consuming, he dealt with numerous “free riders”, other employees and supervisors who wanted a share of the money or training he’d been awarded. It was an ongoing effort for him to keep the money in his program and on task.
Ah, the joys of QCDs! They turn traditional deductible IRAs into quadruple tax-advantaged vehicles: the money goes in with a tax deduction, it compounds tax deferred, then comes out tax free, and counts towards one’s RMD. It’s almost too good to be true. Perhaps it’s karma for the charitably inclined!
I prefer to give to smaller, local charities. They are usually mostly or all volunteer, and my donation is meaningful to them. I often have the impact of my donation doubled by having the charity use it as matching funds for fundraisers.
I’m just starting my study of QCDs. Looking forward to this.
This topic is of utmost importance to my spouse and me as we begin our transition into retirement (while each doing some part-time work for the reasons Jonathon highlighted in today’s article).
We are blessed knowing we are on course to meet our financial needs for the rest of our lives while also being generous to others. We have always tithed our income to our church and given it to organizations that align with our values and interests– mostly based on our budget. Now we are at a stage where we are developing a giving plan to be incorporated into a retirement fund withdrawal strategy. This is what we are considering for our situation:
1) Apply many of the concepts we have read in Mike Piper’s book, “More Than Enough— A Brief Guide to the Questions That Arise After Realizing You Have More Than You Need” (2023).
2) Using a modified RMD annual withdrawal rate (RMD x 1.24) based on the “Safe Withdrawal Strategy” work of Dr, Wade Pfau, et al. At the beginning of each year, we will be able to calculate the amount that is “more than enough” for our budgeted spending needs and develop our giving plan for the coming year. This will include giving to our kids while we are alive.
3) I was blessed to do “moonlighting” consulting work one day a month for a local non-profit organization during my entire 33-year career. That extra pay filled in a budget gap as we raised a family on the household’s one-and-a-quarter FT incomes. Now that we are empty nesters and have a secure financial future, we plan to gift back the entire income I received from them. In my faith tradition, we call this “mutual aid sharing”.
Keep the conversation going. The HD community likely has a lot to contribute to each other in the way of experiences on this topic— and likely financially to society at large.
Thanks for the reading recommendations, I see an excerpt from his book is part of Mike Piper’s website, too.
33 years of moonlighting seems like a glide path to part-time consulting post retirement with the opportunity to spend that money as you desire.
Timed gifts to children along with charities on an annual plan while still around to see how it’s going seems like a great idea to me. Reminds me of the “Die with Zero” model. So far in my kids’ young adulthood, I can see as a general rule that the money I share is more crucial for their well being than the same amount would be if applied to my personal desires and preferences.
As someone whose job included raising funds from the private sector for 22 of my 43 year career in non-profits and public agencies, I applaud a thoughtful approach to donations. When I got to be the one “in charge,” I didn’t spend a lot of money on fancy annual reports or other trappings. (Oddly, I DID have to spend more money on my clothes—so often, those with means are more comfortable with others who look like them—a kind of sartorial tribalism).
In terms of my personal giving, I have and will always be a tither. Even now, as a retiree, I keep up my donations to causes near and dear to my heart. I categorize them like this:
**Courtesy gifts—ranging from $25 – $100 these are donations to any run/walk a friend participates in for a disease that has affected their family. This also includes a myriad of FB fundraisers for friends’ birthdays, etc.
**my “major” gifts—$1k-$2500. These go to organizations I know personally (having worked for them) or vetted via Guidestar. They include national organizations with demonstrable track records in advancing the arts, humanities, women’s health and civil rights and, local organizations that support food insecurity and people who are unhoused. I am also starting larger gifts to organizations I hope to eventually work with as a volunteer board member.
For youth groups and schools I used to be an invited speaker about philanthropy. I starting with spelling, defining and saying the word “eleemosynary”. Which kids got a kick out of! I asked the students to draw a picture of their heart and fill it with the things they cared about. Then I would explain that there were ways to help other children, dogs, people who were hungry, whatever was in their heart. And I gave them an instruction sheet to take home to their parents so they could be a part of their family’s eleemosynary activities!
eleemosynary is the big word with the same original Greek root as the Old English word “alms”. Interesting tracing the history of each.
Good idea on teaching youngsters how to structure their own sharing activities from a young age.
I worked for several years at a software company that tracked and processed funding, and was the platform that ran many of the largest charities, foundations, and many many thousands of the smaller players; a CSR provider. I had about 20 charities that I regularly funded for years, I’m down to about 3. The waste, total lack of accountability, and incompetence is astounding! My advice, if you don’t have direct line of sight where your money is going and what it’s being used for, keep it. This is an incredibly generous group of people on here and I can only suggest being extremely cautious with every penny. And as far as IRS filings and websites that rate charities, they are all posting the data that is given to them. There are no deep dives and due diligence with the data. Thats like asking the fox to report on the health of the chicken coop.
“…if you don’t have direct line of sight where your money is going and what it’s being used for, keep it.” This is a sound piece of advice, and for me it reinforces a commitment to local charities.
Thanks, Catherine, for helping us reflect on how and why we give. One consideration in my giving is the source of the funds. As a state employee for many years, supported in large part by taxpayers, I feel it important to direct a portion of my gifts and estate to charities in state. And I like that, in addition to supporting causes I find worthwhile, donations help the tax base by employing people locally at non-profits.
Great article! I used to be skeptical of panhandlers but I think a person would have to be in a bad place to resort to public begging.
Yes, though addictions play a large part. When I used to live in a city and would spend time talking and eating dinner with panhandlers, there are definitely some genuine cases that are worthy of support, but there are many others that aren’t looking to really improve their situation and refuse the help that shelters and other services that are available.
We used to have prepackaged food at the ready, though my shelter-working friends say that isn’t really different than cash because they will just sell or trade for alcohol and drugs anyway.
I definitely value being able to spend time with a person.
And we currently have two separate people living in our house, one who would be on the street otherwise and the other who enjoys being able to not have to worry about money though she does work a regular job.
As others have said, thanks for this thought-provoking article. My major contribution is to my Church via QCD from my IRA. All other contributions are smaller, and managed via bank drafts or occasional donations.
Not long ago every time I passed by a strip mall there was a young man sitting and asking for money. I passed him by until one time I thought I’d try something different. I asked him why he was there.
While he gave a story about his family deserting him and his girl friend moving to another state, losing his job I looked at his eyes which were very red. Drugs, alcohol ? I don’t know. He seemed sincere.
In any case I felt sorry for him. I opened my wallet and told him to take what he needed. There was about $200 in it. He took one $20 bill. I never saw him again. I often wonder if I had made things worse.
Our giving is a mix. Local food pantries and soup kitchens, voluntary fire departments, PBA, church, St Jude’s- the largest, the Williamsburg Foundation and a few community organizations. We give where we live and where our vacation home is. The largest contributions come via QCDs .
And then there are our grandchildren’s sports fundraisers. Anyone need a case of very overpriced popcorn?
That popcorn! I remember one time asking the league to simply divide what we needed by number of youngsters and we’d write the check…
Yes, the silly fundraisers where the company makes far more than the kids…
I’ve heard that is true for the girl scout cookies, which is sad, because they are sure tasty.
I became skeptical of cash giving to panhandlers and we decided to carry protein snack or cheese & crackers and sealed water bottles to hand out from the auto. However, I have on occasion negotiated and escorted a less fortunate person to a fast food restaurant and purchased a meal for them. I avoid organizations with high dollar CEOs, etc. We use https://www.charitywatch.org/top-rated-charities/ as an aid in selecting. Tax Rules also permit direct charitable giving from retirement accounts.
Our giving is simple:
Our Church
Local and Regional Food Pantries
Local and a Chicago Homeless Shelters
Same main three with us, but we also support a handful of local favorites. For years we have supported Compassion International & soon our sponsored child in Africa will age out, he’s now 20. I purposely selected him years ago when he was a teen, knowing most folks would select younger children. I learned about this charity when I saw one of my tax clients regularly donate. I may not be able to help all the children in the world, but I made a big difference for THAT one & his mother.
PS Donating blood is another choice that matters, if one is able.
I have a great compassion international story: I started sponsoring a 6 year old when I was in college. He turned into one of their poster-children and went on to college (Compassion didn’t do a great job of that transition – they nailed a letter one day that said, he is going to college and needs 3x what you are giving him. If you aren’t able to do that this will be your final letter and we’ll find another sponsor.)
I declined the increase and so wrote my final letter and said if he ever got to the Internet to look me up. Years later, we got a comment on our blog and we are now friends on Facebook. He refers to me as Daddy and it has been really neat to watch him basically his whole life.
I have similar inclinations, Catherine. For years, I’ve been directing much of our charitable giving toward organizations or people who in one way or another have touched my heart. I’ll give just one example. I read an article in the local paper about the Guardian Scholars, an organization at my university (and others) that provides support for college students who have aged out of the foster care system. You can donate funds that help buy backpacks, laptops, bicycles, bedding for the dorm room, you get the idea. You can also volunteer as a mentor for a Guardian Scholar, something I plan to look into as soon as I retire. I also donate to the student food pantry on campus because I remember what it was like to be food insecure at that same university all those years ago.
For those unfamiliar with outcomes for children who have ever had the misfortune of being placed in foster care, half never finish high school and somewhere south of 5% of the half that finish high school go on to graduate from college. Right now there are about 350 thousand children in foster care (a county-level system). More than half exit the system each year, most to return to family or extended family. A major risk for entering foster care is previously being a former foster care child. It’s a nasty childhood experience, even in the best of placement paths.
Most programs and attention to former foster youth centers on the 10% of foster care children who “age out” or turn 18 while still in foster care. But the other 90% who returned home or were adopted carry educational and other disruptions corollary to their life experiences regardless. These receive less understanding and assistance, and in my experience and discussion with many young adults, they blame themselves for their educational gaps, and can’t think of how to improve at school, to be successful in high school or college. My mantra is, “You did not cause this, but you are responsible for addressing it.” That is, acknowledge the necessity of a person to meet their own shortcomings (with assistance when it is available) but disentangle oneself from blame or self-shaming.
I am struck by the clarity of the Guardian Scholars eligibility: “… regardless of the length of time they spent in care, age at entrance into or exit from care, or current age.” The one criterion most former foster youth won’t achieve? Admission to UC in the first place, Still. I plan to share the existence of this program in my circle of young adults, some of whom are current community college students who could apply for transfer to UC.
This InsideHigherEd article salutes the UC program as one strategy for assisting these bright youngsters.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/student-success/college-experience/2023/06/28/retaining-students-foster-care-experience
Given that hundreds of thousands of children enter and exit the foster care system annually, I applaud your efforts, DrLefty, and am glad you plan to mentor in retirement.
This is an excellent example of a heartfelt and direct impact program and so I’m including a link to it here.
https://opportunity.ucdavis.edu/programs/guardian-scholars
The webpage includes its “Documents” list newsletters only through 2021 and 2022. Might suggest to a casual observer that the program is no longer active, which would be a terrible thing, since there are plenty of former foster care young adults who would benefit from exactly this program! (Regularly updating public-facing webpages instead of sending direct mail solicitations would be an excellent pivot in nonprofit communications.)
Thanks for a really interesting and thought-provoking article. I really admire your well thoughout approach to giving. Our giving is evolving and not nearly as organized. Your article is a strong incentive to be more mindful and intentional.
My favorite giving uses my time and talent. Providing free tax preparation to the community helps my community. Our clients genuinely appreciate the assistance. I also get to work with some of the smartest and most caring people I’ve been fortunate to meet. But each year there are a handful of people who have gotten themselves into some very challenging circumstances, and need significant help. Helping them resolve their difficulties by using my experience and talent feels right.
I applaud your work providing tax preparation! Many people dread doing their taxes, even if they don’t mind paying their allocated “fair share”.
By doing this work you’ve created a shared social moment that dampens that dread and the dreariness of taxation. And you learn from these people, as the stories you’ve shared have informed us, too. So you further develop your talents in the process of sharing them. Smart.
Regarding charity begins at home:
Our only charitable giving goes to the food pantry in our town. We pick names in our family for Christmas presents with a maximum to be spent. I asked for mine to go to the food pantry as there is nothing I want or need.
Regarding campaign contributions:
Per the Federal Election Commission as of the end of last year ALL of the president candidates raised 2.342 BILLION. Just think of the good this money could do for non profits, rather than donating to bloviating politicians.
Billion with a B. Way too much and way unnecessary.
Amen!
Good idea. Many of us wonder about gifts for the person who needs nothing.
I’ve read many post-election stories about how the one party spent a billion dollars in three months, to questionable effect. Don’t know if there will be a reckoning and a reset but I hope so. Resulting in this money finding alternate paths and purpose.
And to think that most likely the majority of that money probably went to negative TV ads which I’m sure we all watch with rapt attention over, and over, and…thank God for the invention of DVRs
Great article, Catherine. There are a lot of ways to be generous. I like your thoughts. We also like to give to local organizations who have “boots on the ground”. I also wanted to mention that we have been the beneficiary of a set of parents who have given us a monetary gift at Christmas for the past 9 years. It’s not a life changing amount, but is enough that we put it towards our mortgage to pay it off early, save to pay cash for a car when we need one, that kind of thing. We are humbled and grateful. We hope to do the same for our children when we are a little older. Chris
I love that idea, Chris. I like the idea of giving a sum to the kids that’s sizable enough to make a difference for something like paying down the mortgage or saving for a car.
My kids are a bit young for larger gifts (beyond what I’m still paying for college and a few other big ticket items…) but I help at key moments and in smaller ways too, hoping both that they are like you “humbled and grateful” and will “do the same” in due course.
We got a gift from parents over 15 years ago. Not huge, but it would have bought a used car. They didn’t specify that it should go to their new granddaughter, but that was our immediate thought. We stuck it in a Vanguard account. It’s been sitting there growing, ready for a wedding, house or whatever purpose the three of us decide is best. A bit of mental accounting, perhaps, but it feels good to know that a future expense is already paid.
Catherine, I don’t have a better plan or suggestion for you, but I want to compliment you on yours. I think we have similar thoughts on where our money goes, however. I send zero dollars to solicitations that come in the mail or by other means, even to charities that I think may be doing good work or to political groups that align with my thinking. I do give to local organizations that make efforts I can see and I have passed a check to a local politician sitting on my porch.
The biggest chunk of my present giving is to my church, but that’s part of my religion and also my practical commitment to do my part to support a group of people who are important to my life. Through the church, I also take part in a group giving effort, but we are careful to see the money gets to the end user where it does the work we intend.
None of the above is intended to slight organizations that have solicitation personnel. It takes money to do good, and someone has to gather it together.
I’ve not been hit up by a panhandler in quite a while. Maybe because I haven’t been in those parts of the city lately, or maybe I don’t look like an easy mark anymore. In the past, I’ve usually offered to buy food, but that’s often not what the person intends, even if they first asked for a meal.
Lately I’ve asked to be removed from those solicitations, and for my parents. I’m imagining many more trees living as a result.
Thank you for your comments.
The local politician sitting on your porch! Reminds me of the day I spent with my three kids and tens of thousands of others in Madras, Oregon ahead of the 2017 All American Total Solar Eclipse. A candidate for some local office was at the side of the road, selling homemade eclipse t-shirts to defray campaign costs. Could not resist.
The direct mail and phone solicitations are troublesome both for the expense to the organizations and the increase in ephemera bound for the trash heap in a world already awash in garbage. I requested my Alma Mater to not call or mail me and that cut their solicitations more than 90% which I greatly appreciate.
We give to our church also, Ed. Chris
For many youngsters, seeing the plate passed in church (or a few other settings I know) is the first example of the power of giving and sharing.
I hadn’t thought about that (showing the kids) part of the plate passing.
We went to a church that didn’t have a plate and it took is a few weeks to figure out how they collected donations since they weren’t ever mentioned… They simply had a box in the back of the sanctuary and it wasn’t obvious. I’ve really liked that model and now that I’m back at a plate-passing church, I’ve wondered if it really is a good model.
When I see people put in $1 as the plate goes by, it is hard not to wonder what their motivations are. It is possible that is all they can afford, but most likely it is the socially acceptable thing to put something in the plate or worse what they see as their responsibility to God to get the ticket into heaven or something.
We talk about money very openly with the kids and it seems as they get older that our example has been good for them.
The box at the back of the building is another good model, and kids can be part of the giving, and also part of looking out for how to give… in everyday settings all around.