The Epicenter of Generosity

If it is more blessed to give than to receive, then the South Side is the most blessed neighborhood in the whole Syracuse metro area. Hey: how can we get some of those blessings?

Did you read the article about charitable giving in Wednesday’s Post-Standard?

Since I have spent my entire career in the non-profit sector, anything that mentions patterns in charitable giving catches my eye. What motivates people to give -- of themselves, and from their pocketbooks?

Religious participation, for one thing, as SU professor Carol Dwyer noted. The highest percentage of charitable giving in the US goes to faith-based causes.

“That surprises some people because there’s a lack of understanding of the power of religion in some people’s lives,” the article quoted Dwyer as saying.

One other strong motivator for giving is knowing people in need -- knowing them not just as recipients of charity but as human beings, friends, neighbors. When we connect, we give -- we give our hearts, our selves, our souls and bodies. That’s one reason why people go back over and over again to places like the Samaritan Center. If you are hungry, it’s a great place to eat. If you are hungry for something more in your life, it’s a place where you can get that, too.

Giving and receiving go hand in hand. David Tanyhill, pastor of a church on West Castle Street, put it this way:  “We are people who understand mercy because of the fact we have needed so much of it in our lives. It’s because of our giving that we are able to receive.”

Read the full report on How America Gives

We can learn a lot from a walk down to Syracuse’s “epicenter of generosity.” All kinds of data show that church-going and giving rise and fall together. New England, for example, has the lowest rates of both in the country, and curiously, both the affluent and the rural parts of New York State are not far behind.

I have a feeling, though, that there are pockets in our neighborhoods that connect very strongly with the South Side. I have seen extraordinary generosity from people in this congregation -- real engagement, and real feeling, and real connection with people in need. I have a feeling we know that that South Side community is part of our community, that our solidarity, and our giving, outpace the average in these “affluent eastern suburbs.”

Last year we spent a lot of time identifying our assets -- what God has given us -- and now we can imagine what blessings we will reap from those assets: what now are we going to give away?

-- Jacqueline Schmitt