As many people know, when a donation is made to the Theosophical Order of Service, 100% of your donation goes toward the cause or project you have chosen. This is because the TOS works as an All-Volunteer Organization (AVO) and while this may not seem like anything consequential, in fact it is. Today, very few organizations are able to put 100% of your donated dollars toward its designated purpose. In many organizations, charitable dollars are used to help with the administrative costs. For the TOS, our expenses are low because of the volunteers who commit their time and, sometimes, their own money to the work of the TOS. They do it in the name of theosophical service.

Another factor about the TOS that supporters may not know is that if money is donated to a

disaster, such as those affected by hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, the money collected for the victims of these disasters goes to the victims of these disasters through our boots on the ground. In other words, TOS/TS volunteers who live in the area or close to it and who commit to making sure your dollars go directly to helping a family, a community, or even several individuals who are in need. The amazing thing about this is that at times these volunteers are themselves affected by the disaster. For instance, in Houston after Harvey pummeled the area with vast amounts of rain, TOS volunteers from the Houston area, despite their streets being flooded and having no electricity, decided to help out at the shelters and food banks. In typical Theosophical fashion, volunteers put their own needs aside and went to help others.

The TOS would like to take this opportunity to thank the many volunteers who have given their time, energy, materials, and dollars to helping others. Service is definitely heart work. It happens because we cannot sit by and watch others suffer. It happens because a stirring within tells us that something must be done to make a difference. It happens without ego, sometimes without care to one’s own welfare, and because we are the boots on the ground that creation uses to provide goodness in the world.