Giving is a great feeling!

That may seen like a very selfish statement, but you can't deny it's validity. Yesterday was our charity day at work, where we had a silent auction, a bake sale and catered lunch, where all the proceeds go to families in need. There are so many of them this year! I donated quite a few items to the silent auction - there were so many things I had in my house that I never even removed from the boxes! Gifts from well meaning folks, and now two other people will benefit! The person who won the item in the auction, and the recipients of the charity. I strongly believe re-gifting is okay when it is a donation to charity. If you re-gift in place of going out and actually buying a gift for someone, that's just not very nice. Having been the recipient of some very obvious re-gifts (Did you really give me the stitching kit you got as a freebie when you subscribed to that stitching magazine? Because I subscribed to it too, and now I have 2 copies of the exact same freebie stitching kits. Coincidence? I think not.), I can say it is kind of a sucky feeling. And when you think about it, it's not really a "gift". I suppose it could be called "recycling" - you don't want to throw it away, because it's still good, so you leave it on the curb hoping someone will want it and take it. Except worse, because when you factor in the whole "It's the thought that counts!" message taught to us by our mothers, what re-gifters are actually telling us is "You're not worthy of an actual gift, but I'll wrap some garbage for you."

Hmm...this was not supposed to be a rant...

Anyway, we raised almost 2 grand for our charity, and that is a great feeling!