by Victoria Rose Perkins

Created on: December 21, 2007   Last Updated: October 25, 2009

Giving to charities, without spending money, is not as difficult as we might think. During these hard economical times we are all having to endure, it is more important than ever to think of ways to be charitable without having to spend money. Simply put, most of our hard-earned dollars are being eaten up by higher prices just for our own day-to-day living expenses.

To learn about how to be charitable without spending money, looking back at the past, may help us learn ways to be charitable in the present. How did people in the past help support others when money was scarce? The answer is fairly simple. They gave of their time and efforts and skills! During the Great Depression, charitable people would share food when someone knocked on the door. When a neighbor's barn burned down, the surrounding neighbors got together and helped rebuild the barn.

How did charities evolve? Charity use to begin at home, in the family circle, and just naturally spread to one's neighbors whenever a need arose! However, times have changed. We want to be charitable, however the need for caution must not be ignored. In today's world, if you do not know and trust your neighbor, it is far better to use a well-known organization to donate to.

Volunteering of ourselves to help others brings rich rewards in ways that money cannot begin to touch! One-on-one helping gives immediate happiness and brings smiles to faces and relief to those in need. So, there are ways we can give to charities without using money.

Here are a few places that could use some help in almost all cities and towns. One way would be to volunteer some time for our furry friends at the local pet shelter. Staff is always looking for volunteers to walk the dogs or play with the cats and assist in feeding and grooming, thus helping to keep them socialized so that they have the best chance of being adopted.

Again, giving of your time, effort and skills can do much good and it does not have to involve giving money. There is more personal satisfaction involved, when helping outright, rather than sending in cash and not know exactly how it will be used in helping someone.

Adopt a highway - This national volunteer program started in 1989 in California. Each single person or group, like the boy scouts, a gardening club, any organized group you know of can be given approximately a two mile stretch of road shoulder to keep clean.

Giving away gently-worn clothing to a Good Will or Salvation ARmy is a wonderful way to be charitable.

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