Charity Begins In The Heart

Whilst, yes, charities need us to open our wallets and purses, it definitely starts in the heart.

Here’s to all the “coal face” charity volunteers in the Hondón Valley. We salute you. Thank you for doing this year after year from the goodness of your hearts and for free. Please help where you can. Get MAD = Make a Difference:

The traditional Hondón, as an “out-on-a-limb” farming community is quite needy at times, and, like many areas, has a set of social problems that get very little help (if any) from the Government. Hence, the locals step in. Many thousands of people give their time, gifts, money and skills to help solve these issues. Heroes indeed.

They do it from the heart. They care. Furthermore, they do it for nothing in return.

Morally, you give because your head or heart nags you to. To help. Not to see an angle for publicity or big yourself up. A thousand people all giving a heartfelt 1 Euro each means more than one person giving 1000€ for commercial gain, surely?

For the most part, Hondon Villas, over the 15 years we have been working in the valley, keep their charity donations to themselves. Hondon Villas have and do sponsor special events, make donations to charity and help with the local community. Having a plaza based real estate office in Frailes, we get asked many times to help because we are a face of the community.

Maureen (a founder of Hondon Villas), herself, has been generous over the years as she believes in and wants to help the less fortunate. This includes animal charities, clothes/food banks, competition prizes, cancer help, football teams, Christmas events and more. And it hasn’t stopped at local Hondón Valley causes. Maureen’s particular favourite is the Elche’s Children’s Hospital. But I suspect most of you wouldn’t know that because she rarely tells anyone. Indeed, and better still, there is a thriving behind-the-scenes army of people quietly giving to charity in silence who ask for nothing back.

Yes, a little publicity helps, but we never ask for it – as we know charity should be about giving, about heart, not self-promotion. Many have said, there is something distasteful about constantly bragging on your charity donations.

In this case, Mr Stink was right : “That’s the trouble with do-gooding. It ends up being all about the do-gooder, not the doee. So you end up with a lot of do-do!” – Mr. Stink (David Walliams Book). We agree, so lets move on…

A particular favourite cause in the Hondón Valley is helping abandoned or poorly animals, especially domestic pets. Many pets and farming animals are badly treated, get old or their owners cannot afford the vet bills. So they are abandoned, usually in poor health. Sad :-(

Thankfully, there are 1000’s of Expats / Foreign Nationals that care enough to tirelessly volunteer their time and money to buy shelter, food and treatment to get these sad animals back to health and a new caring home.

There are a few dog charities* to note here in the Hondon Valley areas: Alma, Hovar, Barkingside, Barney’s …. and others. Vets help too. Local councils help where they can. But “Jo Public” help in their droves. Their heart drives them to. It makes a difference.
[ *They are all on Facebook if your search ]

These charities couldn’t exist without their fans, volunteers and donations… without money raising events… without their dedication. And given for FREE!

These are the heroes. As much as Hondon Villas and many, many other lovely caring people can give donations (that’s the easy bit), the real heroes spend countless hours of their free time helping and caring, often without praise or recognition. And as they say, time is harder to give than a trophy cheque.

Thankfully, we don’t need to tell most people that. Some, however, think giving to charity makes them the hero. No, No, No. And never will until they get off their backsides and match the relentless hours (and stress) of actually helping others in the field.

What giving donations does do (and you really should give if you can) is assist those local groups to do better, to carry on with their good work and to solve the problems of the community. It’s morally right. The community needs it.

So, dear reader, please add or continue your support for local causes, go to events, be a volunteer and above all recognise the good work in the community.

AGAIN…. Here’s to all the “coal face” charity volunteers in the Hondón Valley. We salute you. Thank you for doing this from the goodness of your hearts. You are making a difference.