Each day’s news brings big numbers: more than 7,000 homeless in Hawaii, 45 million refugees worldwide, 210 million impoverished. It’s hard to comprehend such numbers, and it’s hard not to feel defeated by them.
But I believe in the power of little numbers. I believe ordinary Christians can be powerful servants for the Lord through small kindnesses and minor sacrifices. So today I offer some little numbers for your consideration and inspiration.
As the holidays approach, we’ll all get numerous requests for charitable donations. Make sure the charity of your choice spends your money wisely. Visit charitynavigator.org for an analysis of the organization’s budget. The information costs nothing.
Instead of buying from amazon.com, go to smile.amazon.com. It’s the same store and the same prices. However, smile.amazon.com will donate 0.5 percent of your purchase price to your favorite charity.
Turn off TV a half an hour early, and you’ll have time to pray the rosary before bed.
The most effective way to influence a legislator is a personal visit. Make an appointment shortly before he/she will vote on a specific bill. Confirm that you’re a constituent. Briefly explain your position. Send a thank you note. Including drive time, the experience will take about one hour.
Blood Bank of Hawaii is located at 95 Mahalani St. in Wailuku (808-244-7333) and 2043 Dillingham Blvd. in Honolulu (808-845-955). Plan on spending one and a quarter hour to allow for paperwork and a brief health check. Making an appointment is best. One pint of blood can save up to three lives.
My favorite supermarket stations a grocery cart at the front of the store to receive donations of nonperishable items for the local food bank. A can of tuna costs less than $2. Suggest this to your marketer.
Every Christmas, my hairdresser invites customers to bring in up to $3 worth of canned goods. She matches the donations and takes them to parish food banks. Many party invitations now make a similar suggestion as a substitute for a gift.
Letting a customer with few items go ahead of you in the checkout line costs about four minutes. Making eye contact with the cashier and saying “thank you” takes less than a second.
It takes about five minutes to read the day’s Mass readings aloud. They’re available online at usccb.org and also appear in most church bulletins. It takes about 10 minutes a day to read the entire Bible in a year. Visit readthecatholicbibleinayear.wordpress.com.
A Big Mac™ meal and a cookie cost roughly $10. That same sum sends an insecticide-treated mosquito net to protect a child from malaria. See the United Nations Foundation program nothingbutnets.net.
State and county officials are always looking for reliable election workers. Your shift can be as long as 14 hours, but it’s just one day, and you get paid $85. Call the Office of Elections at 453-8683 (Neighbor Islanders 1-800-442-8683) for more information.
A donation of $15 to the Catholic Church Extension Society (catholicextension.org) pays for one day of electricity for a mission church. $75 educates a seminarian for a day.
Hospitality ministers and altar servers come to Mass 20 minutes early. Eucharistic ministry requires one or two evening meetings a year, as does being a lector. Lectors also spend about one hour a month preparing their readings. Picking up litter after Mass takes perhaps 10 minutes and requires no workshops, schedules or meetings.
Bringing safe water to remote and/or impoverished areas is the focus of “charity: water.” They estimate that the cost of their projects averages out to $20 per person assisted. See charitywater.org.
One loving heart plus God’s grace is the largest number there is.
Kathleen welcomes comments. Send them to Kathleen Choi, 1706 Waianuenue Ave., Hilo 96720, or email: kathchoi@hawaii.rr.com.
