I believe anyone who has a salary, savings and food on their table is in a position of privelige and should be able to give back. Even those who have very little are often the first to reach into their pockets. Majella, owner of children’s furniture store ni-night and a good friend of mine, works with SIR Move Services to arrange for containers filled with necessities and a few luxuries, to be shipped to some of Cambodia’s orphanages. This in itself is an amazing thing to do and a lot of hard work to coordinate. But she recently recounted the story of someone who didn’t have anything to give away but ended up making the most touching contribution of all. This individual didn’t have a TV, tennis racquet, books or clothing and they couldn’t afford a large lump sum donation, but they travelled all the way to her house to pass her $30 in cash, saying they’d saved up the funds and believed the children in Cambodia needed it more than they did. Now that’s giving…

Times bookstores currently has a great "give back" initative. They’ll donate 10% of the proceeds of ANY book by bestselling American novelist Jodi Picoult to Eden School - a vocational school in Singapore for children with autism, in honour of her most recent novel House Rules  - about Jacob Hunt, a teenage boy with Asperger’s Syndrome. I have a few friends whose children are on the Autism spectrum and to see the persistence, dedication and love on both sides is a gift to those of us blessed to know such extraordinary kids and their parents.

So go buy big at Times before May 31, to support Eden School. You’ll receive a free bookmark designed by kids from Pathlight School - Singapore’s first school for autistic children - you’ll change the lives of the kids at Eden School and enrich your own world.