Day 365 – The Final Give Raising The Roof for a School in Uganda

It’s Day 365 – The final give. I did it. I gave back to the world every day for 365 days.

Crack open the bubbly it’s time to celebrate! After a year of giving and blogging the day has finally come to post my final give. It has been quite a journey of learning, hope, compassion, excitement, frustration (being hacked was not the highlight of the year) and pure happiness. When I began the 365give journey there was nothing more I feared than social media. I didn’t know what a blog was, I had never Tweeted or Facebooked and I would have laughed at you if you said I could edit a video for YouTube.

I tackled my fear and the learning curve of social media to accomplish my mission. I wanted to share my giving journey by engaging people all over the world. I wanted to inspire them to give more in their lives. I wanted people from all walks of life to believe they could make a difference and create positive change in the world. You don’t have to be Oprah or Bono to change the world. We can all do it every day by honouring the planet, by being kind to each other, and treating all inhabitants of our planet with dignity.

This is my story, my lessons, the future of 365give and my final give.

Find Your Inspiration

If you had asked me on Day 1 if I could complete 365 days of giving (and blog about it every day) I would have lied confidently and said absolutely. I had a great source of inspiration. My 3 year old son Nicolas. 365give was started in honour of his 3rd birthday. I wanted to teach Nic to give naturally in his life even at the age of 3. Now after 365 days of giving (in which he completed many of the gives with me) my now 4 year old is a generous, kind child that understands the meaning of giving and how each of us can support each other, animals and the planet.

He inspired me to keep going even on the days I didn’t think I could. How could I ever tell him or the children of the world I wasn’t willing to do everything in my power to make the world a better place for them?

Let your inspiration push you further than you ever thought you were able to go.

What I Learned

Now I have completed 365 days of giving I can tell you what I have learned.

1) You can give every day.

2) You can be the change you want to see in the world.

3) You can influence, motivate, inspire and teach philanthropy by being a leader.

4) Giving makes you happy.

5) Giving makes others happy.

The Greatest Give of a Lifetime

On Day 353 (The #1 Reason to Drop Social Media for a Day) I announced the homecoming of my second son, Tyler Way. It has been my dream since starting 365give to adopt a second child. My son came home on the exact day that 365give should have been completed (due to hacking it was not the case) and on my oldest son Nicolas’s 4th birthday.

Tyler was our second miracle. The greatest “give” a person can every receive -a child. As my social worker likes to remind us, we “won the lottery of babies twice.” Tyler was not a private local adoption nor an international adoption. Tyler was a local little boy that needed a forever family. His life journey started in Foster Care. Did you know there are over 30,000 children right here in Canada that are in need of a forever family? We feel honoured that we have been able to provide 2 children with a forever home.

I wanted Tyler’s adoption into our family to leave a living legacy. I wanted to support just a few of the thousands of children in Africa whom have lost their parents to famine, AIDS and war. I have been given so much in my life through my children I felt a deep desire to give some of that back. This takes me to my final give.

The Final Give: Day 365

I wanted to give something that would truly make an impact for my final give. One of the “every day heroes” I met via 365give is a gentleman by the name of Moses that runs an organization call Hands of Action Uganda. I posted his story on Day 284 and a volunteers story, Marcia Bojold on Day 299. Moses has touch my heart with all he does for the lost children of Uganda. I wanted to make a lasting impact to these children and their education.

Moses wrote to me a few weeks ago and is in desperate need of  a new roof for his school. As you can see from the picture what he really needs a new school but his request is just for a new roof.

The cost $360 US. He requires 30 iron sheets to cover the roof at $12.00 a sheet.

On Day 4 of 365give my son and I started a donation jar for the money we would collect by returning every recyclable / refundable bottle we could find. Our estimated total for our returns was to raise $32.50. After 1 year of recycling at the “bottle depot” we exceeded this amount and raised $82.00!

The $82.00 will be the first donation made to get Hands of Action for the new roof of their school.

I am asking you to help me reach the $500 fundraising goal.

Just click on the “GIVE” button on the right side bar and please make a donation. $5.00, $10.00 or any amount would be appreciated. Let’s show the children in the Horn of Africa we care about their education, we care about their future. Let’s give them hope and let them know there are people that care.

What’s Next? Is It All Over?

365give is not over it has only just begun.

The new vision for 365give is under way. It may be a little slower to get up and running based on my new role as a Mom x 2 but it is just the beginning for 365give. Over the course of 365 days of giving I learned so many new ways to give every day. The new 365give will help you discover how easy it can be to be a philanthropist. There are unlimted ways to give all over the world right at your fingertips. You don’t have to have money, you don’t have to have hours of time to volunteer – it can be as simple as a click and your give is done for the day. There is a new philanthropy in the world and 365give will be the place you will be able to find how to embrace it and to give instantly.

While the new site in under construction I will be running a contest that will give you an opportunity to donate $365 to your favourite charity or cause. We will be updating you on world movements, reviewing causes, guest posts, every day hero stories and more.

Follow along to see it all unfold. I am a committed giver big and small for my life time and I look forward to inspiring you to give more in your life.

“Since you get more joy out of giving joy to others, you should put a good deal of thought into the happiness that you are able to give.”

Time Commitment:  2 minutes for the donation and a commitment to Give for A life Time

Cost: $100 to Hands of Action Uganda