At Preston Hire we believe that Christmas is a great time for giving. I don’t know about you but for me personally as the Christmas Season approaches it seems like a natural time to reflect on the year just gone and think about the great times I’ve enjoyed with my family and friends.
And yes it’s also fair to say that these moments of reflection usually come with a relaxing glass of wine or two. After all this is the season to be merry and there are always a few glasses of (Responsible) great wine to be had.
It’s also a time where us more maturing adults sit back and wonder where the year has just gone. We wonder why the years seem to be getting faster and faster and one year roles into the next. One consolation of course is that 40 buck bottle of wine with friends in the back yard over BBQ is seriously a priceless moment in time that you will remember for life.
For the younger adults in this world, like my 19 year old son, living on the edge of life is what it’s all about. They are seriously trying to grab every second they can in the fear that they might miss out on something. Life to them is ALL about TODAY and there is no need to think about tomorrow. After all tomorrow is another day which is ages away.
For the lucky children in this world, schools are coming to a close. Santa’s wish lists are being drawn up and the excitement of having no school over the summer period is ready to explode in their minds. They are looking forward to Christmas Day, the presents, celebrations and probably the family camping trip to the beach or favourite swimming hole in Bright.
Reality is it doesn’t matter at what stage of life you are at, life is great and worth living……Right?…..Yep sure is…. That is of course if you are one of the lucky ones like us living in Australia or other lucky places around the world today.
But as I said earlier the Christmas Season is a time of reflection. So I not only reflect on the great times I’ve had with family and friends but naturally we all gravitate to and think about the ‘not so lucky ones’. And you know who I mean: the children living in abusive homes, people living in poverty, sadness, war stricken zones, famine and people living with thirst on an hourly basis. Reality is that millions and millions of people around the world are living in these conditions today. Hard to sometimes believe. But it’s a fact.
During the year when everything is going on and our lives are filled with dropping off kids to school, going to work or cooking dinner its easy to forget about the tragedies around the world.
And as we reflect, consider people living in countries with lives very different to ours. They will never get to enjoy that bottle of wine with friends. Their 19 year olds will not be enjoying life but are only left wondering if they will survive another day. Their children who have probably never heard of Christmas never mind Santa’s and a wish list are struggling to get fresh water past their lips. So please let’s all spare a thought for these people
Did you know for instance that;
- Every 8 seconds, every day, a child somewhere in the world is dying from drinking contaminated water. A simple well and water pump is all that is needed to reduce deaths from water-borne and diseases.
- That if we could reduce the average daily water collection time for women in Ethiopia by only 3 hours that this would effectively eliminate up to 20% of children under 5 dying from water borne diseases.
As individuals and even Governments of the world we cannot take away all the famine, fear, poverty or thirst around the world but by golly collectively we can give it a go. Besides I think that we each have a social and moral obligation for humanity’s sake to do what we can whenever we can. That’s right no matter how large or small because every little bit helps. The world has become such a small place and turning a blind eye has simply gone on long enough.
With a strong urge to make a difference and reflecting on our obligation for humanity Preston Hire decided to start the giving process and consequently joined an organisation called B1G1, or “Buy1Get 1″. B1G1 is a social enterprise which provides support to giving businesses and actively promotes a new age of giving. The main function of B1G1 is to monitor and maintain the integrity and transparency of all contributions made through B1G1’s Giving Engine making sure that 100% of the giving goes to the designated Worthy Cause project of your choice.
Since joining in July 2012 Preston Hire we decided we’d be able to get the biggest impact in the shortest space of time by choosing water as our first gift of choice.
And as a result of this association with B1G1 we at Preston Hire have proudly provided 201,394 people to date with access to clean water for a day in both Malawi and Ethiopia.
At Preston Hire, we believe that every business has the power to change lives by integrating giving into its everyday business activities and together we can do great things. If you wish to learn more about B1G1 or indeed more specifically Preston Hire’s giving history refer to https://www.b1g1.com/buy1give1/businessstory?companyID=780130.
