When I was a child, I went to Sunday school at our local church. One year, our leader set us a fundraising challenge. We were each given a tube of chocolate sweets, asked to eat them, then return it filled with coins for charity.
When I was a child, I went to Sunday school at our local church.
One year, our leader set us a fundraising challenge. We were each given a tube of chocolate sweets, asked to eat them, then return it filled with coins for charity.
It seemed a pretty good arrangement to me. I got to enjoy the chocolate, and the adults supplied the coins. I’m happy to report I completed the eating well ahead of schedule.
Collecting the money took rather longer. Along the way, I was learning to join in with helping a cause, long before I understood much about the people we were helping.
Years later, working with a community centre helping vulnerable children, I saw people taking on other fundraising challenges: shaving off beards, going for a long run.
I could see the appeal of a challenge. For a supporter, there’s someone to encourage, a sense of doing something together, and I can feel connected to a cause I might never have thought about helping.
The centre manager wondered why people couldn’t simply give the money. I could understand her question too. She was thinking about the children, and the work that would still need doing once everyone had gone home.
Her question made me take a moment to reflect. Having become Muslim as an adult, I find a helpful reminder in the Qur’an, the book Muslims turn to for guidance. God speaks of giving ‘some of what you cherish’.
That word ‘cherish’ makes digging deep personal. Time I’ve already made plans for. Money I’ve earned. Something precious to me can become something that helps another person.
Giving is now part of the rhythm of my life, an expression of gratitude for the blessings I believe come from God.
Looking back, that chocolate tube was a small beginning. The pleasure of joining in came first. Understanding what giving could mean, for others and for me, came later.
Owain, here's wishing you every encouragement as you finish pedalling hundreds of miles for Children in Need. I’ve been cheering you on. Just as well I’ve learnt how to give without having to eat a whole heap of chocolates first.
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