Life Lessons: Finding joy in giving

I have always felt a certain amount of pride and joy in sharing and reaching out to help others as best I can. It is with true humanity I try to be charitable and donate to a good cause whether it is my time or my financial resources. I have to set parameters in how much I can donate and I try my best to be as generous as I can. I believe we all wish to help the needy and less fortunate as compassionate human beings. It is impossible to give to all so we have to selectively choose who to donate to and it is always suggested that we try to donate to organizations we can trust will utilize the resources to aid others like the American Red Cross or to a College of our choice fund to help fund scholarships. Obviously we should try to donate as often as we can within reason.

As the father of a young son with special needs and medical concerns I have learned my priorities in life. Obviously my son's needs come first and learning how to help him overcome his challenges. Since autism and epilepsy are both medically related conditions that require medication and extensive doctor visits I feel it is important to help in addressing these areas and by helping the cause with financial donations to organizations such as the ASA Autism Society of America and the Epilepsy Foundation. These organizations then could use these contributions to help fund study and research to hopefully raise understanding and seek answers and proposed solutions in treatment of both medical conditions.

I am proud to say that I have created a page on the Epilepsy Foundation website to help raise funds to help all affected by epilepsy including our son Matthew. In my heart I wish I could do all I can to help him and others and I feel this is a good starting point. If I can do something worthwhile before I die that can help my son and others who struggle then I will feel I truly helped in some small way. I wish to have my son protected and a fund established for him that will assist him as a young adult. I am very confident Matthew will be able to go on to college so I have to make sure I have a financial plan in place to assist him with his college costs. I will always do my best for him.

There are many successful people who have created foundations to assist families with schooling, medical care, housing and emergency services. It is nice to see that commitment and dedication.

The one person who dedicated her life to the poorest of the poor in Calcutta and gave all she could to helping the missions as a very loving, caring and compassionate human being and for many years was the late Mother Theresa who was a nun as a young girl and found her purpose by helping the needy in her later years. She was a very special woman and she made the poorest people smile because she truly cared and helped each and every day of her life. She was a very special woman and her kindness and saintly work continues through the efforts of the nuns who worked with her who carry on her mission work.

It is very important that we reach out to help others and do whatever we can to make a difference. I know that if we realize the importance of caring and reaching out for a good cause and we have a connection to that cause it makes the effort more purposeful and necessary. My son is autistic and epileptic so for me the way I can help is by expressing my feelings and experiences and finding a cause which will help those affected. It will be my mission because my son means everything to me and if I can help him with his seizures in some way and help him make more social connections despite his autistic ways it will make a world of difference and make me feel hopeful.

The link to our fund raising page is:

http://efa.convio.net/site/TR/Events/Tributes?pxfid=17890&fr_id=1060&pg=fund

Edward D. Iannielli III