By Sean Delaney
Emery Charities was very excited to donate $100,000 to the new Humber River Hospital last year to finance a kitchen and dining area for families that find themselves needing an overnight stay at the hospital when their children are admitted. Having a place to gather and cook meals ultimately lends itself to a greater feeling of normalcy at a potentially stressful time. Emery Charities will once again start to fill their piggybank with two upcoming events, a golf tournament on Sept. 8th as well as a Venetian Ball on Oct. 28th. It is with the welcoming of the Board of Directors of the Emery Village BIA that we invite you to participate. All details are online at www.emeryvillagebia.ca
Please consider that at the heart of everything that is fundamentally human, charity endures as one of our more positive characteristics. The ability to empathize and to give without any agenda or recognition is a tenet of humanity.
Charity exists at all levels of society from the micro, local initiatives and grass roots projects, to the macro, large organizations with nationwide strategies. And while all charities need our support in their efforts to better the world, it is the former type which requires our undying attention.
As our world continues to globalize with the advent of technology capable of keeping us connected, charities have been able to extend their outreach to places that were never before imaginable. A function of this growth is the ability to reach more in need. So let’s turn our attention to why we should support local charities. We have many in Emery Village.
Local charities, unlike their larger cousins, are far too often starved of resources. Usually the sole enterprise of one or two dedicated officials, charity organizers frequently bleed their own finances and time into making their charity successful.
These grassroots style charities contribute to the community in several ways; many of which go unnoticed. From picking up garbage at the side of the road, to putting on local events, to supporting hospitals, charities pick up the pieces where we fall short. But in the face of government set-backs and under-funding, local charities are at risk from crumbling under the weight of the larger version.
As the band Cinderella so elegantly put it, “You don’t know what you got till it’s gone.”
It’s time to applaud the efforts of our local charities and properly fit them to succeed in their mission. Whether it is through financial injection, volunteering or simply providing organizers a place to meet, Emery can certainly help its charities in the same way that its charities help the community.
If it’s supporting the upcoming Emery Village Charities’ Golf Tournament, or simply putting a couple dollars in a collection jar, it is important we do what we can. Because at the end of the day, charity can be quite thankless but if it becomes a community initiative, it is far more rewarding.