#19. Undesignated giving - Nov. 2011

The phrase “undesignated donor” is interesting. I have been raised in a Christian community that encourages giving. We give to people we know in our community, helping them in many practical ways. But lots of time we are called to give to people we don’t know.

We collect food for Community Care; I don’t know the people who will be getting the groceries. We collect money for relief work; I often don’t even know what country the money is going to, let alone who is getting it. We sew blankets to help people in disaster zones; I don’t know who is sleeping under the blankets I’ve made. Being an undesignated donor is part of my community’s genetic make-up. So giving a kidney to someone I don’t know…it’s just more of the same. Instead of my food, or my money, or my sewing work being used by someone, it’s my cells, my tissues, my flesh. Outside of a sperm or an egg donation, it`s about the most personal undesignated gift you could give.