Caring is impossible without sharing

Dorothy Day said that the role of nonprofits is to “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable”.

They say it is more blessed to give than to receive. But the biblical word “koinonia” (Greek) means both give and take. It translates variously as giving, sharing, fellowship, joint participation, intimacy, communion and community.

C4L afflicts the comfortable by asking for donations of time and money to assist its “target group”. We do not ask for ourselves, but for the sake of our outreach to Mpumalanga youth.

The time-honored principle of tithing does not mean that we must give away 10% of our wealth. It means that we should give away 10% of the increase.

To God, the real issue is not how much we give, but how much we keep. It is wise to “shrink the cup” so that plenty of surplus overflows as “giving”.

Donations

In South Africa, C4L is registered as a Public Benefit Organization.  So it can send you a tax-deductible receipt for a donation.

In Canada, there is a conduit – namely St Paul’s United Church.  It will send the receipt to you for a charitable donation, on our behalf. These donations constitute one income stream in C4L financials.

C4L does not have a way to “earmark” your donations, so they land in C4L’s general fund.  When you send it to St Paul’s, do indicate that it is for C4L!