Last night, I pulled out our family’s Christmas gifts and started wrapping. As I put everything in piles, I realized that I forgot to shop for my own stocking.
I like shopping for my own stocking. I like filling it with little treats that I would normally pass over like a new pair of socks or nail polish color. And because I pick everything out, I know that it will be exactly what I want.
But as I organized the Target bags of various odds and ends I’ve been stashing away over the last few weeks, I had forgotten to pick out a few things for me. With the rest of my hours between now and Christmas accounted for, I toyed with the idea of hopping on Amazon and flexing my Prime. I thought about how I could adjust my schedule for a quick TJMaxx run.
This evening, I opened up Instagram saw a few of my favorite people–Elizabeth Gilbert, Glennon Melton, Brene Brown, and Cheryl Strayed–talking about a campaign to raise money to aid refugees. Their goal being to help The Compassion Collective raise a million dollars in 24 hours with the maximum donation being $25, with every dollar going to provide direct relief on the ground.
If you’re like me, you try not to think too much about the refugee crisis. I’m afraid that if I open my mind to it that my heart might break open.
But then I let my head go, and I see my family leaving our home by foot, saying goodbye to everything we’ve ever known. I picture entering a foreign land by boat, standing wet, hungry, exhausted on a beach. I see my sons hands in mine as I lead them toward a place that I had hoped was more safe, but now that we’re here I don’t know how we will survive.
Can you see it?
I could. I knew what I had to do.
My stocking will be empty this year. I sent any money I would have spent on a few random items to a place where children and families are barely hanging on.
Want to learn more? Check out The Compassion Collective.
Join me in having an empty stocking this year. It takes 3 to 5 minutes to make a donation.
$25. That’s it.
Make a donation. Tell your friends. Spread the word.
With compassion and love,
Kaly
PS More on what the money will do. From The Compassion Collective: For refugees navigating choppy, cold seas off the Greek Islands, we’ll provide floodlights to light up those waters at night, funding for volunteers to pull drowning children to shore, and heaters, blankets and warm weather gear to help them survive the winter. For refugees stuck state-less in Europe, we’ll provide basic necessities—food, shelter, warm clothing and hygiene products to give people back a measure of dignity and comfort. For refugee parents, we’ll providing their most requested item—strollers and baby slings. These gifts keep their children safe and cradled close while they journey. We’ll also providing emotional care for children, translators to help separated families find each other, doctors for the sick and injured and much more.
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