this holiday season, Why not give first?

By Sam Parnitzke, Habitat Lakeside marketing intern

​Families all over Sheboygan County will soon settle down for the holidays. Snow is already beginning to stick to rooftops and car windows. Thanksgiving and its promise of a golden-brown turkey and a Packers victory is right around the corner. It’s a day of expressing gratitude and spending time with family.

On Friday, another kind of spending begins.

Thousands will head to the stores on so-called Black Friday to nab deals on everything from this season’s hottest toy to a gigantic smart TV. Saturday, with any luck, loads of people will flock to local stores, including the Sheboygan ReStore, for Shop Local/Small Business Saturday. And on Monday, Dec. 1, millions if not more will tap at keyboards and phone screens to get the best Cyber Monday bargains.

By Tuesday? Well, whatever's left might go to local nonprofits to honor Giving Tuesday, launched in 2012 to persuade people to donate to nonprofits across the country. It might well be observed that, given the traditional cadence of the days after Thanksgiving, giving pulls up dead last.

Isn’t it time to change that cadence?

Habitat Lakeside has joined Early Giving Day, an initiative that wants to reverse that sequence. Early Giving Day, started by Milwaukee’s Urban Ecology Center in 2021, designates Nov. 25, the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, as the day to support community nonprofits.

​“Before the hustle and bustle of the traditional shopping weekend, Early Giving Day invites everyone to take a moment to reflect on the needs of our community and to care for one another,” say the people behind Early Giving Day, now a collaborative of more than 30 nonprofit organizations.

With the question of affordability on everyone's mind, this is exactly the kind of outreach the community needs. Across Sheboygan County, plenty of families will have no Thanksgiving dinner. Plenty of people will have no one with whom to share that day of football and food. They won’t have cash to spend on Black Friday, Shop Local Saturday, or Cyber Monday. Who are they? A neighbor, a coworker, the person who scans your groceries at the Piggly Wiggly.

As a faith-based organization, Habitat is totally on board with the spirit of giving rather than getting. “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously,” reads the verse from 2 Corinthians. “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” From Acts: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” As for timing, the instructions on tithing specify “first fruits,” which most interpret as “give first.”

In our opinion, giving is the best way to express gratitude and to acknowledge the abundance many of us enjoy. Think of Early Giving Day as a way to kick-start the holiday season and enjoy a fresh perspective on what it means to give and to receive.

Thank you for your support. Together, we build homes, communities, and hope.

Photo montage: Double Vision Films, Sheboygan Falls, Wis.