Beth, an everyday hero

One woman shares her story about the joy she feels in giving to others

Beth is a mum of two, living in suburban Melbourne. After her second child was born, it hit her. The preciousness of life. And how families who aren’t as lucky as hers have to battle through. 

Then she got in touch with us to donate to our life-saving work. Here she tells us about her journey of giving with Save the Children.  

Beth’s story

“In 2017 I had just had our second child and I became a lot more aware of how precious, vulnerable and susceptible children were to their family supports, resources and the environment around them. 

A Save the Children advert came on TV; it was about a lack of water and access to food for children in war torn areas. I considered how stressed I get when my kids are sick or don’t have enough vegetables in their day; and that’s in a country which is relatively safe and we can access almost anything, anytime, anywhere. I then considered what it would be like to be a child or mum with an everyday stressor but in a place where basic needs were not even being met. It really helped to put my situation and prior priorities into perspective. It stirred that innate need to give to those who truly are in need. 

In other places, water is luxury

I turn on the kitchen tap hundreds of times a day for water to drink, to wash our hands, while preparing and cooking food. We can wash our clothes and bedding so they feel clean, we can flush our toilet and we can have hot showers. By taking just one of these precious things away our lives would be different; imagine what it would be like to not even have a simple clean glass of water ‘on tap’, let alone all the other luxuries. 

Some families are luckier than others
 

How to educate children in charity giving

We always chat with our kids about how fortunate they are to have basic things and that other kids don’t always have these things. We make the most of appreciating simple things like a home-grown vegetable, a day digging in the dirt outside, new undies, socks or shoes. We don’t have a lot of ‘stuff’ and I think this makes it easier to appreciate the basic things we sometimes take for granted. 

If we find we are accumulating a bit too much ‘stuff’, we pack up it up and give it to a local charity. The kids don’t usually get too upset when they ask for something we’ve given away if we explain it’s gone to others who don’t have as much as they do. They are still learning to be able to part with surplus things themselves though!  

We can all be more compassionate

I hope that we are innately generous in all the simple ways we are able to be. I hope we can always be more aware and able to recognise when a special thankyou is warranted. We need to also help people find new ways to be more aware and generous to others. 

Consider your life and the simple things you have and appreciate (or take for granted, such as turning on a tap, being able to buy nutritious food) and consider all those that don’t have those necessities. A few dollars here and there that may be frivolous to us, can have the potential to give someone some of those basic things we take for granted.” 

If you’d like to share your story of giving, we would love to hear from you. Email us at supporter.care@savethechildren.org.au