Lending a hand to your community starts here at home. Photo: Pamela’s Photo Poetry.
In the Christian tradition, Lent begins this week. A time of reflection.
If you attended a Catholic Mass on Ash Wednesday, you were told “you are dust, and unto dust you shall return” as your forehead was crossed with ashes. The gesture reminds us we’re all simply human beings with a short span allotted to us on earth.
Last month in America, Buddhist monks walked for peace across eight states, sometimes through deep snow. They were accompanied by a rescue dog named Aloka and were met along the way by people at every stop who listened to their message of peace for all.
The monks told their audiences that everyone experiences pain and suffering in some way – it’s the human condition. But it shouldn’t overwhelm us. If we can create peace in our lives and extend that peace to others, our fellow human beings will thrive.
Hundreds – thousands – of people turned out to hold a candle in the snow, to sit quietly, to take home with them the message of compassion.
It feels like these are hard times, and sometimes helpless times. So much is going wrong in the world. There is so much suffering. To some extent, we’re protected from these brutal divisions in our beautiful and peaceful city.
But no matter what you do or don’t believe, most of us are motivated by wanting to help our fellow human beings. We’re just not always sure how to go about it.
It’s fairly simple, really. It’s about who you choose to be, as well as what you choose to do.
To return to the Lenten reference, there’s not much point in giving up chocolate for a month while ignoring people who are hungry on our streets.
Think about what you’re doing and why. Make it matter.
Increasingly at Hands Across Canberra (HAC), I’m seeing businesses incorporate giving deeply into their corporate culture. They understand that a workplace where people are committed to the community and think beyond their own interests is a good place to be.
James Carter, from real estate agents Carter & Co, started his fund with HAC several years ago and uses it to funnel donations from team activities. They go bowling together, they run together, they work together and they give together. It’s always a good vibe at a Carter & Co event.
CDC Canberra, the data centre behemoth founded here in the national capital, has just set up a fund for its employees to contribute to Hands Across Canberra. Their impressive national and international success is underscored by a commitment to being decent people who remember where they come from.
Several more businesses are making the same choice with HAC. Every leader wants a happy staff, but a workplace where good times also help others takes team bonding to a whole other level.
It’s a great signal to clients and stakeholders that the business cares. Giving becomes easy for employees. The firm’s reputation is enhanced by being contributors to the community. And you all rest a bit easier knowing that you are making a positive difference.
We can be a bit culturally shy about giving in Australia. It often feels hard to ask people for money, even for the best of causes.
The current Canberra Day Appeal makes it easy – by choosing a charity close to your heart, by participating in the Canberra Day Fun Run or supporting someone else to do so, you can choose the level of your involvement.
My challenge during this time is to consider how you can make giving and supporting others a core part of your everyday life, whether it’s in the workplace or at home.
Can you be someone who creates peace in the world? We’re all dust and ashes in the end, but our legacy lives on in others.
Genevieve Jacobs is the CEO of Hands Across Canberra, the ACT’s community foundation.
