Forty Days of Giving, Day 1: Austin Habitat for Humanity

I haven't observed Lent in, well, ever, I think. I once gave up meat for Lent, when I was fifteen or so, but that was because it was a fixed length of time that I thought I could survive, and not for any sense of sacrifice. I was an awful vegetarian in those days, too; I ate more potatoes than a person should eat in a year, and not a whole lot else.

It's Ash Wednesday today, and I've been toying with the idea of acknowledging the season in a more meaningful way this year. I brainstormed a list of things that I could give up, ranging from breakfast tacos (sadly, probably the hardest thing for me to give up, as they're convenient, filling, and very very yummy) to driving to work. And then, after I was done brainstorming ideas and I thought I had chosen my Lenten sacrifice, I came up with another idea.

This year, I'm marking Lent by making a small donation to charities I believe in for each of the forty days. I can't afford to give enough to make a significant difference, but my hope is that every little bit will help. I don't generally have a ton of money left over at the end of the month, so to pay for my donations, I'll be trying to save money in other areas. The truth is, I seldom know where my money goes; at least this month, I hope to know.

I'll be attempting to post daily as well, at least to mention to which charity my day's donation is going. I'm not sure that I'm even aware of forty charities, so please feel free to post the names of worthwhile ones to my comments.

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Today, I skipped my morning breakfast tacos, and I received my $6 compensation check for jury duty in the mail. That's $10, which I sent to Austin Habitat for Humanity.