Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday Whew!

So, if you live in the United States, you have just survived THE weekend that most exemplifies both the best and the worst of being an American. Thursday, we celebrated our national heritage and family with Thanksgiving. What started as a holiday to celebrate survival and the help white refugees got from Native Americans, has turned into an all you can eat day of football and parades.

We follow Thanksgiving with Black Friday, a day we used to use to Christmas shop for loved ones, but now often use it to buy stuff you don't really need just because it is ridiculously cheap.  Originally a one day event, big retailers have now started Black Friday days ahead of time, and small retailers who cannot afford to discount their items that heavily, have responded with Small Business Saturday. Then online retailers added Cyber Monday. It's enough to make you wonder what happened to all that gratitude we had on Thanksgiving.

And then, not to be left out of the spending spree that is this 5 day nightmare, the non-profit world created Giving Tuesday! A push to get any extra money you might want to donate to a charity at the end of the year. (Not to mention the ongoing donation boxes, add a dollar at check out, and kettles in every store.) As Americans, we once again took a good idea and made it over the top.

But as the owner of a small non-profit seeking to improve the health outcomes of every New Yorker, I cannot afford to ignore it either. So today, I am asking you to consider making it a Giving Tuesday to Small Non-Profits Day. The big ones have already overwhelmed you with emails, social media posts, and pleas for donations. But it is the little non-profits who chug away on small donations, whose CEO's don't get paid, who can take a dollar donation and stretch it to be worth so much more, that really need your funds.

So please, consider donating to Health Literacy for All Inc, http://healthliteracyforall.org/  and click on the little donate button right under our logo. Or find another small non-profit you love and donate to them. And be generous, We the small non-profits of the country thank you!