Celebrating the power of collective effort

Most of us are good, kind people. We love our kids and our families and we go about our days being compliant members of society, managing our levels of stress and happiness at varying levels of success. At the same time I would venture that many of us feel that, once all is said and done, we still run at a deficit. We watch the ads on television of various charities asking us for money and we think, "I would if I could." We feel helpless in the face of all that is wanting in the world and we feel petty for lamenting on our own toils and troubles. I know I feel like this often. Whether we like it or not money is the fuel for economy. It is also the only thing that stands between humans and survival in some countries- poor or rich. So, my point? You do have the power to make a difference. Let me explain: This idea isn't a new one, but it's one our playgroup is about to try. Our playgroup of mothers annually (although we'd like it to be more often!) get together for dinner. Just us, no kids or husbands. We've gone out to restaurants in the past, but for our next gathering we're going to meet at one of our houses instead and 'bring a plate' (or have 'pot luck') to eat. The money we save from that alone is going to be pooled and sent to a charity of our choice. Sounds easy? Let's hope so. What I like is we're not really denying ourselves - the one of the biggest reasons people mightn't want to donate money. We're doing what we wanted, that being get together, have fun, have a break, and this way we're also doing a bit extra. What Oprah might say is we're Paying it Forward, in our own way. Could you do the same? Do you have a bunch of friends that might be up for the challenge? I'm going to make this a permanent link on the side, to hopefully spread awareness. If you do something for the 'greater good', tell me about it, I'd love to hear. Blog about it and send me the link. Once we've had our dinner, I'll post an update here and let you know how we do. Thanks for reading. UPDATE- March 12th, 2007: Here