The Power of Donation
During the spring of 2013, The Raiders’ Cove opened in Two Rivers High School. The project was started when Mr. Pautz challenged his English 10 class to come up with ideas to help the community in Two Rivers or just at TRHS. The end result was The Raiders’ Cove. After doing some research, the class learned that at least 40% of students in the district take free and reduced lunch. Yet, that number should probably be higher because some in the high school choose not to claim that benefit. With that many students in need, the English 10 class pursued their idea, and The Raiders’ Cove was established. Mr. Pautz and students cleaned and prepared the room for donations, the Herald Times Reporter wrote a front page article about it, and donations started coming. The Cove takes new and gently used clothing, school supplies, and hygiene items. 239 students (70 this year) have taken advantage of The Raiders’ Cove since its inception. So, what does this mean? Donating to a cause helps people! Students have benefited from the donations, which helps them concentrate on school instead of worrying about their lack of clothing, etc. And, those donating can feel good about helping others! It’s a win win!
Informative Texts
Agadoni, Laura. "Importance of Donating Clothes." Opposing Views. 26 Apr. 2016.
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In this article, Agadoni highlights the benefits of donating clothes. The first benefit is to “Help People Who Can't Afford Clothes.” This not only helps those buying, but also helps places like Goodwill and the Salvation Army pay for training and possibly employing those in need, along with supporting community projects, etc. A second benefit is it helps disaster victims in need. Donating also helps the environment, thus fewer new items of clothing need to be made. Other benefits of donating include fundraising for those in need and keeping your house cleaner and in order.
Although the article is brief, it gives quality reasons why donating clothing can be one way to help those in need. The article uses statistics to support its claims, such as, “Goodwill uses 82 percent of its revenues for training and employment for people with disabilities.” This proves that donating can make a difference in people’s lives. Also, besides the obvious reasons to donate, the article highlights one that doesn’t seem obvious. It says, “Donating clothes helps organizations that help fight certain diseases. For example, the National Kidney Foundation accepts clothing through its local chapters. The clothing you donate goes toward fundraising. The organization uses the money raised to fight kidney disease by setting up early screening and education programs.” Who knew? So, obviously, the positives outweigh the negatives when it comes to donating. Finally, after checking online sources to find out if Agadoni is a real author, I found various articles published by her, including one on livestrong.com, so I’m confident that she’s legitimate.
Human Interest
Cobb, Elizabeth. “True Generosity.” Chicken Soup for the Parent's Soul: Stories of Love, Laughter and the Rewards of Parenting. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2012.
27 April 2016.
In this Chicken Soup article, Elizabeth Cobb recalls a time when she read a newspaper article about how a town was devastated by a tornado. In the article were pictures of family members whose mobile home was demolished. Along with the picture were clothing sizes of those family members. Cobb realized that her family matched their sizes well, so she taped the newspaper picture of the family on her refrigerator and explained the situation to her twin boys (age 7) and her three year old daughter. The kids and mom then collected items for the family in need, but the daughter taught them that giving from the heart means giving away something you cherish. They all then gave away something they cherished, not just clothes, etc., that they didn’t wear anymore.
This is an excellent example of the power of giving. Obviously, the family in need would have welcomed any usable items. But, the giving family realized that donating doesn’t just have to be “throw-away” items but should also be something that matters to the giver. The lesson learned here is that items that make you most happy can also make others happy. Thus, “it’s better to give than to receive” rings true still. This shows that both parties benefit – givers and receivers.
Advocacy Group
"Advocate." Goodwill.org. Web. 27 Apr. 2016. <
According to this page on Goodwill’s website, “Goodwill Industries International is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization. With your help, we advocate for public policies that provide job training programs, employment placement services and other community-based programs for people having a hard time finding employment.” On the webpage, Goodwill includes BLOG posts detailing examples of how they are advocating for themselves, which in turn, will keep more money in house for training programs for those in need.
Goodwill is known as a place where people donate their clothes or furniture to primarily help those people who are financially strapped. Of course, anyone can shop at Goodwill (I just did yesterday), and any money made goes back to the organization by paying its employees and training others to be good employees. What I didn’t realize is that Goodwill also works with government officials to change laws that will benefit their organization, which, in turn, will benefit those they help. It’s a win win! And, since this is from Goodwill’s official website, the information is accurate.
Non-fiction Video
Delano, Jon. "Goodwill Facing Serious Shortage of Winter Clothes." CBS Pittsburgh.
11 Feb. 2016. Web. 27 Apr. 2016. < serious-shortage-of-winter-clothes/>.
This video and accompanying article came from TV station KDKA in Pittsburgh. The report highlighted the lack of winter clothes being donated in February of this year to the Pittsburgh area Goodwill stores. As the article states, “Within 2 to 3 weeks, we could possibly be out of donations,” Smith (Goodwill CEO) told KDKA money editor Jon Delano. And the lack of donated clothes means fewer people are hired to sort and sell them…The Banksville store is already down fifteen employees.” This is an example of the power of donation.
This news report definitely highlights a problem. That is that in February, at least in the Pittsburgh area, Goodwill donations are down. A likely reason is because a lot of people give charitably at Christmastime, and this is a month or so after. Also, others spring clean and give things away. The problem raised is that we need to be aware and, hopefully, able to donate at other times of the year, too, because people are counting on it for their survival. This was an excellent example of the power of donation.
Song
Ahlstrom, Leonard, and Eddie Carswell. "The Christmas Shoes - NewSong."- Google Play
Music. Web. 27 Apr. 2016. <
“The Christmas Shoes” is an often-played Christmas song about a poor boy who goes to a store to buy shoes for his dying mom. Because the boy doesn’t have enough money, the narrator, who sings the song, ends up giving the boy money so that he and his mom can have a nice Christmas (more than likely her last).
This song definitely shows the power of giving. Often times, though, people are more willing to give during the Christmas holiday season than they might be at other times of the year. Would the narrator have paid for the shoes at another time of the year? What if it was a different person and not the narrator? One would hope that the value of giving is learned here, which, again, benefits the receiver and the giver. And, although this isn’t about donating clothes, it obviously helped the person in need.