I am on a quest to lose weight and get healthy. During a specified amount of time, for every pound I lose, I will donate $1 to a designated charity or philanthropic organization. I am asking you to match that amount. Are you with me?

I am a very big (no pun intended) proponent of charitable giving. I have been raised to always look for ways in which I can benefit my community, and in my personal life I have always wanted to be a “philanthropist.” When I was younger, I had this idea that only wealthy people could be considered philanthropists. But now, as someone who regularly gives service and is an emerging scholar of the third sector, I know that personal wealth is not a factor in whether or not I can be engaged in the very widely-defined field of philanthropy.

However, this mission of mine is also a personal one. For most of my life I have been overweight clinically obese. I hate that term. So, now, I’m doing something about it (well, actually, this isn’t the first time, but that’s another story). Because I want to improve my health and because I want to help those in need, I figure that I can combine those two efforts into one. Because after all, thinking of a designated charity–one that focuses on youth, or homelessness, or hunger–should be reason enough, along with my wife and son, to be motivated to get healthy and to give back.

I hope you’ll join me!

John