Our first discussion on charitable giving

A picture from college - a time where charitable donations (both from my parents and from BYU) were essential to my actual survival

I think it’s important to talk about charitable giving. I know sometimes I hold myself back from these discussions because many people are uncomfortable talking about money. However, this is one of the things I’m grateful for, and it’s one of the things I’d like to share this month.

It’s just a small story that will hopefully keep pearl clutching to a minimum.

A few years ago when we were driving home for Christmas, Chris and I started talking about charitable giving. We had just paid off my student loans, and we lived in this tiny, frightening studio apartment. We weren’t financial titans, but we both wanted to start giving back.

The way I remember it, we talked for hours about so many things: the scholarships we received in college, specific examples of people who helped us along the way, where we could set up annual or monthly donations, if we wanted to sponsor a scholarship at BYU someday, or if the tithing we pay to our church really counts as “charitable giving.”

We each picked one organization. I don’t remember what Chris picked (though I think it was our local food bank), but I chose to donate to KDFC, our local classical radio. I listened to it every day, I believe in supporting the arts, and Google had a matching program so our donation would double. So with every paycheck we sent a whopping, very generous $2.50 to KDFC. 

Obviously with this donation we became Beacon-Level Patrons of the Arts.

It wasn’t a landmark donation, certainly, but it has proven to be a landmark moment in our marriage. And frankly, as the Good Samaritans of the Modern World, I think it’s important I acknowledge a few things: $2.50 is what we could do, so that’s what we did, and I was sincerely grateful we could do it. 

We still give, and I’m still grateful.

b perry