World Humanitarian Day is August 19th, and it’s a time set aside to focus on what the world needs most and how you can help. Giving back is something that should be practiced every day, but focusing on it one day is a good place to start.

If you’re already doing what you can to help, you deserve a little reward today. If you’re not, it’s time to think about how you can make a positive difference in the world.

Why people give

There are a lot of different reasons to be a humanitarian, and each person will have a different motivation for doing things for others. If you haven’t found your reason yet, the following motives may inspire you to give back.

Make an impact

Most of your life and day is spent doing the things you have to do. From feeding your family to doing your job, you’re constantly on the go and not really in charge.

Volunteering allows you to choose how you want to make a difference in the world and lets you support things you genuinely care about.

Strengthen your community

Working within your local community to help others, to build or clean up a park, to share resources, or to share your talents–whatever it is you do, you grow your community in a positive way. This is a great way to make the place you live the place you love.

Meeting people

Volunteering opens your social circle to people you normally may not have met. They share your same interests and concerns and will enrich your life.

Share skills

If you have a particular talent or set of skills, volunteering is a great way to share that and feel needed.

Better health

Volunteering gives you health benefits, according to an article by the Mayo Clinic. Volunteering not only makes a difference in the lives of others, but it helps you battle depression, instills a sense of purpose, reduces stress, keeps you physically and mentally active, and it may help you live longer.

How Hair La Vie gives back

Hair La Vie takes the challenge of giving back very seriously. Every year we contribute approximately 10% of all profits to support the following charitable organizations.

• Save the Children. This organization helps to feed, shelter, and educate children in times of need and throughout major crises.
• Global Fund for Women. This group advocates for women’s human rights by increasing the resources for and investing in organizations led by women.
• Heifer International. An important group, Heifer International promotes agricultural skills and sustainability in the developing world by donating farm animals to families in need.
• Kiva. Kiva provides microloans to entrepreneurs around the globe looking to improve their communities through education and infrastructure.

How you can be a humanitarian

If you’re feeling inspired and want to make a difference, you can! It’s just that easy. The first step is figuring out what matters to you and how you want to support that cause.

The next step is deciding how you’re going to begin your humanitarian efforts. While financial contributions are an obvious option, there are many different ways you can give back.

Volunteer

Whether you want to help build a house for someone or you would rather walk dogs at a local shelter, there are a lot of different ways to physically help while doing things you enjoy.

Passive giving

Without having to donate money, look to support organizations that give to charities. Your local school might collect box tops that you can donate, Amazon Smile supports various charities through your regular purchases, and other businesses may offer programs that let you contribute just by shopping there.

Donate

If you have clothing you no longer wear, take it into a local group that helps people gain employment and clothes children. Spare blankets and towels are always needed at animal shelters. Even baked goods can be donated to charitable food sales.

Be eco-friendly

Think about your habits and which ones you can change to help the environment. Whether it’s simply skipping the straw, or doing a weekly litter pick-up in your area, or anything in between, nothing is too small. 

According to data, a dump truck worth of plastic enters our oceans every minute. This amounts to a staggering 8 million tons of plastic every year. Hair la Vie has committed to reducing cosmetic waste to decrease the amount of damage done to our ocean life.

You can feel good about using our products because our bottles are recyclable, we’ve switched to lower-impact packaging for our shampoo, conditioner, and mask. Our Foundation Beauty Elixir bag uses 86% less plastic than traditional tubs. The elixir is an all-natural beverage blend of nutrients like prebiotics, ginger, collagen, and plant-based superfoods like blue spirulina—a complete Foundation of wellness and beauty from the inside out.

Give the gift of life

Sign up to be an organ donor and, in the meantime, donate blood or plasma.

Final thoughts

Giving back is an important concept. Even if you feel like you don’t have much to give, there’s always some way that you can help others and be a humanitarian. Not only that but by giving of yourself, you’re actually improving your health and reaping a lot of other wonderful rewards too.

Whether you’re contributing to your community or choosing your beauty products consciously, no matter how you decide to contribute, just know that your efforts help to make the world a better place for everyone.