Around Des Moines

Charity makes you happier.

I ran across this summary of an article about charity and happiness last week on BBC News.

The original study appeared in the March 21, 2008 issue of Science, a publication of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. You can read the abstract free on-line or you can read the whole article free at the Des Moines Central Library at 1000 Grand Avenue or the Franklin Avenue Library at 5000 Franklin Avenue.

The author of the article suggests that how we spend our money - especially in charitable ways - may be as important to our happiness as how much we make. (Good thing for me!)

If you itemize deductions, you are reminded at tax time of how you spend your money on others. Thus, that may be a good time to reexamine the question of charity. Reexamination is always healthy for me.

Are you wondering how you share some of what has been provided to you?

First, most Iowans think of their places of spiritual renewal (church, synagogue, mosque, or maybe even something less traditional).

Second, don’t forget the groups that help others around Des Moines like

• Des Moines Area Religious Council
• Catholic Charities
• United Way of Central Iowa
• Children & Families of Iowa
• Young Women’s Resource Center

In the blog and the links, you will find those five and many more than 100 other charitable groups in our community.

Third, remember the places that rely on our support that are fun for the family and make our lives richer

• Blank Park Zoo
• The Great Ape Trust
• The Science Center of Iowa
• State Historical Museum of Iowa
• The Iowa Hall of Pride
• The Des Moines Art Center
• The Des Moines Symphony
• Ballet Des Moines
• Iowa Public Television
• Iowa Public Radio
• Animal Rescue League of Iowa

Fourth, remember you can give goods as well. The Purple Wren always talks about releasing goods to the universe so that someone who needs them (more than she and I do) can treasure them - goods that may once have been a treasure in our lives, goods that still have value but a value that is no longer as urgent for us. Thanks, Purple Wren. (Of course, Mr. Frugal always checks the boxes so that nothing sneaks out the door.) There are many good places to share such items in order to allow others to put them to better use.

• St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store
• Goodwill Industries
• DAV
• other thrift stores
• Books can go to Planned Parenthood
• or you can give blood at The Blood Center of Iowa

Getting back to the basic message that giving makes us happy, I know the one contribution that always makes me happiest: Heifer International, a group dedicated in part to providing animals to support the self-sufficiency of children and families around the world. Take a look at their gift catalog.

A former student of mine spent six months in Namibia in southern Africa. On her return she talked about what she ate - goat’s milk, goat cheese, and goat meat - and about how families in the area in which she worked depended on their goats for life itself. That has left me with a very vivid and meaningful picture of what it means for a family somewhere in the world to receive a goat. When I send money to Heifer International for a goat, it does make me happy, and I think healthier too.

I really didn’t need a scientist to tell me all of this. My mother told me. Here are some wonderful single sentence views of charity offered by John D. Rockefeller II, Barbara Bush, Anne Frank, Maya Angelou, Winston Churchill and others.

Find a charity that brings you joy when you contribute.

Guest Writer: James G. Lindberg (Jim) is the Purple Wren’s sweetie and is a visiting chemistry professor at Grinnell College and retired from Drake University.

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Photo on Technorati by Mr. Kris