Today, people from one of the local churches knocked on my door. They were collecting food for their food bank. I happily participated and was quite surprised that they neither asked for my religious affiliation nor were in any way daunted by the Star of David that was featured prominently on my neck.
The reason why this surprises me is that back in my country, my mother was once kicked out of a charitable Jewish organization for not being Jewish. She is married to a Jew and has two half-Jewish children but that didn’t help. Mind you, she wasn’t trying to get charity. She was trying to participate in visiting elderly people and in bringing them food and winter clothes. At first, people in the charitable organization were misled by her looks (she is kind of the most Jewish looking person of all of us, in spite of not being Jewish) but when the horrible truth slipped out, she was expelled from the charity.
It’s nice to see that one doesn’t need to prove one’s religious or ethnic credentials to participate in doing something good for others in the place where I live now.
When the people collecting for charity were leaving, one of them said, “Merry Christmas!” Then, he looked at my Star of David and corrected himself, “Or. . . erm. . . happy whatever you celebrate.”
“Christmas works for me,” I replied.
Clarissa's Blog 
And a happy Christmahanukah to you! 🙂
Pretty much in the U.S and Canada, if you’re willing to help, then any charity will accept your donations/patronage/assistance, regardless of your religious/ethnic association. I used to do charity work with a Tongan church group, even though I am neither Tongan nor Christian, and I had a lot of fun doing it. I also learned how to sing “Silent Night” in Tongan, but I’ve since then forgotten.
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Can I just say, I appreciate that you’re able to accept a ‘merry Christmas?’ Certainly I understand why it would be irritating to be barraged by a holiday you’re not concerned with, but my personal policy is to appreciate whenever people wish me well. I’m glad that works for you too (at least under these circumstances)
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One would think it unnecessary to prove anything at all to participate in doing something good for others – anywhere. Whom is the needy: the donor or recipient?
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There is a whole keep the Christ in Christmas Reason for the Season campaign around here, so this post is particularly refreshing to me.
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