In a few months, we’ll be entering the season of giving. It’s that magical time between Thanksgiving and Christmas when generous hearts take a look at the harvest of profits during the year and consider sharing their gifts with favorite charitable causes or organizations. 

I hope that despite the challenges of the past several months, our pumping community has persevered and laid up enough money to meet payroll, maintain equipment and, ultimately, have some left over to contribute to good works in the community.

Pumpers are a generous bunch. I have indelible memories of industry friends who’ve told me about their charitable efforts over the years. There was the small septic service company that painted one of the vacuum trucks pink and dedicated a percentage of every pumpout to fight breast cancer. Some portable restroom companies donate units and part of their special events profits to support a variety of causes. Other companies support youth sports, homeless shelters, food pantries and the list goes on.

They do this in good times, and I believe many continue to make these important contributions when times are tough. And it certainly has been tough for many of the family businesses that dominate the septic service industry. Fortunately, our industry provides an essential service and most of you were not stopped by the coronavirus. On the contrary, it took the pandemic and stay-at-home orders for the general public to understand just how much they rely on your expertise. Many of you were busier than ever during the first half of this year.

SHARE YOUR STORY

Through your work, you have given your customers peace of mind that they have safe and fully functioning wastewater systems. The giving isn’t over. When the holidays roll around, you’ll be giving again from your bounty to support meaningful causes. I want to know about your favorite charity so I can share the information with other pumpers in the December issue of Pumper. Maybe sharing a few words about where you like to give donations will encourage others to join you and sweeten the pot.

So send me an email with a brief description of your chosen charity and include a web address or phone number where other Pumper readers can send in their own donations. My email address is editor@pumper.com.

I’ll start the ball rolling by talking about a few of the organizations I like to contribute to:

• Wisconsin Boston Terrier Rescue (www.wisconsinbostonterrierrescue.com). We have been a volunteer foster family for the Wisconsin Boston Terrier Rescue for several years, and I’ve been able to witness many dogs saved from abuse, starvation, neglect and constant puppy mill breeding. I’ve treasured the opportunity to bring these wonderful animals into our home and show them the joy of being a pet and having a family. The transformation of these animals is nothing short of amazing. Many don’t know how to walk up a step or accept a human touch, but they quickly learn these things and many more and are eventually ready to move on to a happy forever home. This small organization relies on donations to complete this mission. Each dog comes to us with medical issues that can cost hundreds to thousands of dollars to address before they can be adopted. If you feel this is a worthy cause, please consider sending them a few dollars.

• American Heart Association (www.heart.org). I have written memorial checks to the American Heart Association more times than I care to remember. That’s because I have lost many family members and friends to heart disease, the leading cause of death for men and women. Heart disease took both of my parents and my father-in-law, and it recently struck down a family friend at age 55. One minute he was happy and healthy, and the next minute he was gone. I doubt there is a pumper who reads this column who hasn’t been impacted by this terrible killer. If you feel like me and desperately want the medical community to continue its work to stop this disease, please consider making a donation.

• Your local parks department. A few years ago when I was serving as an alderman for my hometown, I decided to work with others to donate a disc (Frisbee) golf course for families. I paid a portion of the cost of the equipment and sought donations from others to complete the project. Now I walk past the park almost every day and enjoy seeing groups of people throwing their discs and having a good time. These days, your local city, town or county face lots of budget cuts and can’t provide a lot of the amenities they would like. Maybe you could donate a disc golf course in your town, but every community has many needs. It could be a park bench, a veteran’s monument or something else. Talk to your local leaders and offer to help out.

OR DONATE SERVICES

Nonprofit organizations always welcome cash donations, but you may prefer to find ways to contribute your services instead. There are many ways to do what you do best for a charity. On the septic service side, look for organizations that may need a periodic pumpout, such as a church or Habitat for Humanity home. You can also have an impact on individuals in need, such as providing free pumping service to an elderly or disabled person. On the portable restroom side, many groups and causes — such as fun runs, special events run for charity or serving the homeless population, which seems to be a growing concern — would be thankful for a free unit.

Now I need to hear from you. Send in a paragraph or two about your favorite charity to support through your pumping company. I will print all of the submissions in December during that season of giving. … Who knows, maybe together we can do a whole lot of good on behalf of the pumping community.