Charity Starts at Home (And I’m Back in My Childhood One)

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A collage-style featured image for a blog post titled "Charity Starts at Home (And I’m Back in My Childhood One)." The image features a cozy living room with a reading chair, a construction crew building a house frame for Habitat for Humanity, a red ribbon for cancer awareness, and a vintage television showing characters from Sesame Street.

As WordPress continues to recycle old prompts, I pulled another prompt from The Coffee Monsterz Co to respond to today

What is your favourite charitable cause?

Given the fact that I’m living on a teacher’s salary in this 2026 economy, I have to honestly say that my favorite charity is… me.

But in all seriousness, I wish I did more for charity than I currently do. I would like to give to a small handful of causes, but I don’t always have the resources to do so. One thing I discussed in my “Blueprint for 2026” was a commitment to either volunteering my time or donating money. There are several organizations I’d like to get involved with, but here are the ones closest to my heart:

The American Cancer Society

Cancer is deeply personal for me. My father passed away from it; my aunt also died of the disease; and my mother is a 15-year breast cancer survivor. In fact, between the frequency of cancer and heart disease in my family—and the fact that heart disease is the leading cause of death for men in the U.S.— I’m fairly certain one of those two will eventually be my own exit strategy.

When “The Old Man” died, I considered suggesting that people make donations to the American Cancer Society in lieu of flowers. It wasn’t really my place to make that decision at the time, but I still wish I had at least voiced the thought. Of course, this was 10 years ago. I think that I’ve gotten much better with my assertiveness since then. ļæ¼

Habitat for Humanity

The mission is right there in the name: they build homes for underprivileged and needy families. Is there a nobler cause than that? I’d love to get involved with a Habitat project in my area. I don’t know much about building houses, let alone electricity or utilities, but I’d love to learn. It would be the ultimate hands-on learning experience—so yes, I’ll admit to having some “ulterior motives” of self-improvement while volunteering!

Public broadcasting services – PBS

Whenever possible, I’ve made small contributions to PBS over the years. With the current political climate and the threat of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting shutting down, I feel that supporting PBS is more important than ever.

Both Kid 1 and Kid 2 grew up on WordWorld and Super Why!. We all grew up on Sesame Street, which I believe is the most important children’s television program of all time. PBS quite literally rewrote the book on early childhood development in this country. The notion of it shutting down would be catastrophic; I’m just hoping the network can weather the storm for the next three-plus years.

I’m curious—what are the causes that hit home for you? Whether it’s a personal connection to a health organization like the American Cancer Society or a passion for public education, I’d love to hear what charities you support (or hope to support) this year. Also, if you’ve ever volunteered for a Habitat build, let me know what a rookie like me should expect!

Thanks for stopping by Rebuilding Rob. Be sure to like šŸ‘, comment, and subscribe below. It’s greatly appreciated! Also, feel free to follow me on social media and check out my recent posts!

AI art created with Google Gemini

The article ā€œCharity Starts at Home (And I’m Back in My Childhood One)ā€ first appeared in Rebuilding Rob.

2 responses to “Charity Starts at Home (And I’m Back in My Childhood One)”

  1. piterpanaceum Avatar

    The American Cancer Society hits home for me too – cancer stole my grandmother way too soon. šŸ  Habitat for Humanity is amazing! I volunteered once and learned basic carpentry while feeling incredibly fulfilled. šŸ“ŗ PBS is vital – my kids grew up on Sesame Street too! Supporting education helps everyone’s future. 🌟 Your Blueprint for 2026 sounds inspiring – even small acts create ripples of change! šŸ’« Keep planning to give when you can – intention matters! šŸ’Ŗ

    Liked by 1 person

    1. rebuilding rob Avatar

      Thank you for the kind words!

      Like

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