By: Kate Noonan-Glaser
Over the past few weeks you’ve seen a Call to Action list on the front page of the Sentinel. This list is compiled from the many Non-Profits which call Greenwich home. This past week I had the pleasure of sitting down at the Sentinel with Beth Barhydt and Jenny Byxbee and discussing the wonderful non-profit work that takes place in Greenwich and the surrounding areas. There are more than 50 groups we could name in just one sitting. I am the girl who gets giddy over this stuff and I hope to get you onboard too.
With so much uncertainty in our macro and micro worlds it is easy to keep our focus small. These days we are tasked with things we could not have imagined previous to 2020: mask storage, hand sanitizer, home schooling, virtual holiday gatherings. Honestly, I can barely make it to the doors of the grocery store with the grocery bags remembering a mask and bags is almost impossible for me. Suffice to say everything seems just a bit harder these days. Too often I find I’m stuck in uncertainty and worry, often exhausted by it.
One effective solution to quell my worry is focusing on someone else’s needs. I need to reframe my thinking and stop the noise in my head. There are many studies that demonstrate how participating in charity and community makes us better human beings. The University of California, Berkeley, publishes an online magazine called the Greater Good: Science Based Insights for a Meaningful Life. In their piece titled: 5 Ways Giving is Good for You they highlight a few benefits of altruism: 1. Giving makes us feel happy, 2. Giving is good for our health, 3. Giving promotes cooperation and social connection, 4. Giving evokes gratitude, 5. Giving is contagious. Okay sign me up.
If you are already involved in a Non-Profit reach out to us at the Greenwich Sentinel Foundation and let us know how we can help: kate @greenwichsentinelfoundation.org. If you are looking to get involved read our call to action list, check out your house of worship’s website and see what they need or go check on a neighbor. We all end up better for the interaction.
With your help the Greenwich Sentinel Foundation Calls to Action have gotten paper grocery bags to Community Centers Inc, who are delivering groceries to families in need. We have helped spread the word about the Neighbor to Neighbor food drives our local churches are holding weekly. We’ve gotten the work out about the virtual walks and luncheons. The Foundation is sending out welcome bags to new families in town complete with a welcome plant from McArdles.
Mother Teresa said it best: I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot; together we can do great things. We are part of a great town, with great schools and great people. Let’s all get onboard for the Greater Good.
