Tag: charity

Coffee Log – COVID Relief Post

garethlivesay2 Comments

Hi.

Coffee: Maxwell House Master Blend, Office Coffee

It’s been a while since I’ve made a post. A month and a half, in fact. For two years this was a daily blog, then I stopped. I’d run out of things to say. And to be honest, I don’t know where it’ll go from here. But this is an unusual time and I think it’s important that I share some thoughts on it.

Like everyone, I’ve been dealing with the new normal of the COVID-19 shutdown. Unlike everyone, I’ve been fortunate to keep my job. I work in banking. Banking is an essential service. My job’s not going anywhere soon.

There are many, many people in my country, the USA, and around the world who can’t say the same. There are many, many people who are hanging onto their health, their homes, their families like fishing lines. I’ve talked to mothers and fathers who have lost jobs. I see the reports just like you do, the deaths, the record unemployment numbers.

I know that I’m fortunate.

Today, COVID relief stimulus checks started being deposited in peoples’ bank accounts all across the US. $1200 came to mine. And when I look at my life, the food in my pantry, the paychecks every week, the short drive to work, I know I don’t need it as much as others.

So I’m writing this special post to encourage any other American out there who finds themselves as fortunate as me – well-fed, financially stable – to make the choice to donate your stimulus check to a cause you believe in. Today, I donated mine to Housing for New Hope, a charity in Durham, NC that works to provide housing to the city’s homeless and to ensure that whoever it works with is given resources and support to maintain that housing once they’ve gotten it. It’s a cause I believe in, one that’s working in a city that is dear to my heart. Please consider donating to a charity doing good work in your local community as well.

Crisis breeds fear like tiny bedbugs. And for good reason, because so many beds are over-ridden. But my bed is clean, and I’m so grateful, and I want to humbly give a bit of that gratitude back.

When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed.

Maya Angelou

Coffee Log, Day 206

garethlivesayLeave a comment

Hi.

Coffee: French Roast, Trader Joe’s

My car smells like the ocean. Maybe the hurricane stuffed the hood with fish ghosts.

I took two trips today: short ones, the first to get groceries, the second for dinner. The grocery store was vacated like a June school building. The restaurant was the same. A long weekend for some, hard weekend for others, everyone reeling from the vacuum-suck of dodging Florence’s bullet – we made it through safely. Banks and government offices will re-open tomorrow. September keeps passing. Today gave us all time to sit and think about wasted preparation; the responsibility of safety.

I think I’ll donate the case of water, jars of peanut butter I bought and didn’t open. Give goods to people that need them; lessen the sunken weight of prosperity.

Currently Reading: Autumn, Ali Smith

Support Relief for Family Suffering at the Border – RAICES DONATION CAMPAIGN

“While we do our good works let us not forget that the real solution lies in a world in which charity will have become unnecessary.” – Chinua Achebe

IMG_1669

Coffee Log, Day 113

garethlivesayLeave a comment

Hi.

Coffee: Organic Sumatra Blend, Trader Joe’s Brand

I’m getting bored of my same-old coffee. Any suggestions? Comment me some. It’d be swell.

I worked in Pittsboro. The last time I saw the city was in 2012 shortly after my apartment was robbed. We lived in Chapel Hill. After the incident, we spent a week at her father’s house in Cary – we couldn’t bare sleeping there anymore. Day two, I had to drive back to talk to the police and take inventory. To get there, I drove through Pittsboro.

I remember thinking it was a lovely, quaint town. Back then I didn’t recognize the bookstore that has racks of Nietzsche and historical accounts of Nazis; the confederate statue pointed North. I’d thrown up all night long. My mouth still tasted like acid. I was on the way to salvage a life I’d worked hard for. I welcomed my small town drive.

I took a walk today. I remembered six years ago. I saw the statue by the courthouse. I ate at an old diner on Main and was surprised they had vegetarian options. I talked to a lot of folks today, one of them saved $700 in pennies and donated it to a church project – they built a rec center. He told me he donates all his excess now. Three years ago, his house was robbed by his nephew. Took all the cash, valuables. He said he felt sorry for the guy, but that taught him money’s best when it’s doing work.

I don’t save much, mostly because I don’t have the opportunity. I don’t give much either, unless you’re counting time. There’s a few of us watching the Northern border that are trying to make up for the toll our ancestors took.

Currently Reading:
Americanah, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

The Way of Kings, Brandon Sanderson

Fund the Coffee Log 🙂 – https://ko-fi.com/livesaywriting

“The robb’d that smiles, steals something from the thief; He robs himself that spends a bootless grief.” – William Shakespeare, Othello

IMG_1241