Doing Without

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As a part of our SOS (Sharing Our Surplus) campaign last year, designed to raise cash contributions for refugee relief at the Fall Virginia Mennonite Relief Sale, we came up with things individuals and families could do without for a period of time in order to be able to do more generous giving.

Some sample suggestions for doing without:

- Eating out (or no more than once a week)
- Half of our desserts and snack foods
- Sodas and other high sugar drinks
- All $5 bills in our wallets (empty every week)
- 10% of what we have in our savings accounts
- Current number of fill ups of fuel for our vehicles--walk and bike more
- Purchases of any new shoes or clothes for six months
- Expensive vacations
- etc.

Now let's compare those 'hardships' with those of most of the 62 million displaced persons in the world, and especially the over 26 million households confined to an average ten year stay in a refugee camp.

Some things refugees typically do without:

- eating out
- desserts and snack foods
- sodas and other drinks
- savings accounts
- vehicles
- new clothes or shoes
- indoor bathrooms
- closets
- vacuum cleaners
- refrigerators and freezers
- electricity
- running water
- hair dryers
- beds with mattresses
- living room furniture
- kitchen ranges
- dining room tables and chairs
- washers and dryers
- air conditioners
- central heat
- vegetable and flower gardes
- lawns
- shade trees
- flat screen TV
- Netflix
- family vacations
- exercise equipment
- patio and deck furniture
- water heaters
- etc., etc.