It’s time to question the concept of genuine philanthropy throughout our campus. When we commit to give, we should ask ourselves what we’re really committing to. Are we giving away our time in an act of true, genuine charity, or are we doing it to raise our social status and view of self?

It’s a tough question to ask, and sometimes even tougher to answer. While laying in bed, exhausted after participating in DanceBlue, I was mindlessly scrolling through Twitter and happened upon a tweet that at first shocked me, then brought up a question of philanthropic motive.

The Colonel, a UK satirical publication, tweeted something that made me contemplate, rather than giggle: “Ok, we get it. You think you’re Jesus Christ for participating in DanceBlue. No more Facebook statuses and tweets about it.”

A little harsh, yes. But is it accurate? Don’t we feel so much better as a person after giving our time to others?

I know I do.

But how far is that view of self taken? While dancing during the marathon, I hit “the wall,” or the period of time where a concrete floor looks just as welcoming as a goose-feathered bed. My “wall” lasted three hours, and during that time I recall standing on the sideline, observing my fellow dancers stumbling in an attempt to keep moving.

I thought, “Why can’t we just raise the money and skip the marathon?” I instantly realized how shallow that thought was and that there is so much more to this event than just the money.

As the stereotypical poor college kids, in terms of philanthropic giving, the greatest gift we could ever give is our time because for us, time really is money. It’s the money we put into our studies and the money we hope to get back when we enter the workforce.

When we give our time, we are giving a portion of our lives that we will never get back. What makes DanceBlue so time worthy isn’t the money we raise (though that helps), it’s the effort that we, as a community, put in to show that we care about something bigger than ourselves — others.

Sometimes when we give, we tend to get a little caught up in ourselves and we start to forget the real reason for our charity. Remember that the whole point of charity is to help your fellow man and to show people that they are not alone.

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