The holidays are here again! As we become immersed in travel plans, shopping lists and holiday parties, it can be easy to forget what this season is really about: giving.

Today, the world will come together for one common purpose: to celebrate kindness and to give. December 2 is Giving Tuesday, and it is gaining momentum rapidly. Formed by New York’s 92nd Street Y and the United Nations Foundation in 2011, Giving Tuesday is a philanthropic response to consumer-driven events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

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Giving is necessary for society to grow and flourish. In fact, philanthropic giving can be traced all the way back to 347 BC when, in his will, Plato left his farm to help support students at the academy he founded. Later, the Platonic Academy’s philosophical dictionary defined Philanthropia as “a state of well-educated habits stemming from love of humanity.”

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In today’s world, there are more reasons and ways to give than ever before. With a growing population and limited resources, poverty and hunger are global issues and exist in almost every community in the U.S. Thanks to the internet, giving to causes we support can be quick and easy, but along with modern technology comes a constant stream of information which can easily distract us from what’s important.

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As a movement, Giving Tuesday doesn’t actually accept donations. It aims to connect donors and major charities and encourages the general spirit of giving. In honor of Giving Tuesday, Konica Minolta has teamed with the hunger relief organization Feeding America to host a Virtual Food Drive. Our goal is to raise $15,000, which would provide 120,000 meals to our neighbors in need.

Konica Minolta employees are taking giving a step further this year. Along with raising money for Feeding America, we’ve set the goal of donating 1,000 volunteer hours to support community initiatives across the country. So far, we’ve heard from employees doing great things such as being a long-term mentor with Big Brothers Big Sisters, volunteering as an EMT with an ambulance squad and serving meals at a homeless shelter.

This Giving Tuesday, take a moment to think about what you can do to give back. Whether the gesture is large or small – every bit of generosity expressed will help make the world a better place. At Konica Minolta, we’re excited for what the New Year holds and look forward to continuing to serve our customers and the community in 2015!

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