Putting a Helping Hand on Black Friday

Shopping is not the only thing at the top of our lists this season.  Black Friday put on a helping hand at Macy’s and many other businesses.  Macy’s is partnering with Justin Bieber to help a good cause: the Make-A-Wish Foundation, one of our member charities.

Purchase certain merchandise and you will know that your transaction motivated a $2 donation by Macy’s to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. 

They were not alone in helping Americans think of more than just shopping last weekend.  Thanks also go to our friends at Parade magazine for sending positive signals to its readers around the world.  If you did not see the cover story on November 27, check it out here: http://www.parade.com/news/2011/11/giving-issue.html. 

Parade took a cue from the editors at the Allentown Morning Call.  There, editors have watched the commercial strains of the holiday turn Thanksgiving Weekend into one extended bout of conspicuous consumption called Black Friday.  Except that Black Friday now stretches from Wednesday through Monday. 

Now, people and organizations are jumping on the bandwagon to make the Sunday after Thanksgiving Charity Sunday.  This week, Parade featured ten charities helping veterans, residents of Joplin, MO, and more.  They wrote:

No doubt about it, 2011 has been tough: floods, wildfires, a long-standing war, and a cratered economy that has taken a toll on all of us. Our domestic needs are so immense, experts have even coined a term for that what-can-I-do feeling: compassion fatigue.

But the editors of PARADE believe Americans still want to help—if they know what needs to be done. That’s why this holiday season, we’re spotlighting some folks and causes that could use a boost. We tell you how $10 can keep a family warm; how to bring peace of mind to tornado-ravaged Joplin, Mo.; even how to make an Olympic hopeful’s dreams come true.  

Help a needy family meet their mortgage.  Feed a hungry child.  Stop a new HIV/AIDS crisis.  Come to the rescue of flooded communities.  The list goes on. 

One final tip of the America’s Charities eagle wing goes to the Dallas Cowboys for helping the Salvation Army kickoff its Kettle Drive last weekend.

How will you and your family lend a hand through giving of your time, talent or treasury to help those in need in your neighborhood, your national or around the world?