Is there a salvation army type place here in the Philippines? Or like a really good institution that takes donated goods of all of forms all year round? I'd like to donate some of my old clothes and (if my pack-rat hoarder Mom is willing) maybe some old furniture as well. It's always been something I wanted to do, and properly. And though my wanting to donate may seem to benefit me more (as I can get rid of all the clutter and make space for the things I want to keep), I don't see why it can't be mutually beneficial. I mean, you don't have to go far to see that there's a person who might feel better wearing that shirt you have housing moths in your closet or a naked baby exposed to the elements who might fare better wearing your child's small baby clothes. And I don't want to come off all high and mighty and give that whole pretentious oh-how-I-pity-the-poor type vibe but whenever I take the MRT to the office and take the 20minute walk back and I see the less fortunate (is that the PC term?) and I'm bobbing my head to my iTouch trying not to look or pretending they don't exist so long as I don't notice them, I honestly do catch myself wondering what I could do about it. What little ol' me can do. And then I start thinking about myself again and what I need to do and that guilt leaves as fast as a gust of wind.
I guess if I can't be completely altruistic (I don't think anyone truly can be anyway), I guess I can do the next best thing and give people the choice to determine whether they find my discarded stuff useful or not. To give them the opportunity to decide.
So putting all pretense and modesty and that higher platform of morality and civic duty aside for a minute, what I really want for my birthday is... more space for new things. Helping the less fortunate is just a really really really big plus.
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