Spread the Love on Valentine's Day by Helping Those in Need

"All you need is love," sang a much-loved musician and idealist in 1967 and as you heard him singing it, you may have believed it. Thirteen years later, on December 8, 1980, he was shot and killed as he approached his New York City home to see his son. It's a rough world and it's easy to look around and feel that love is nothing more than a hopeless cliché. Our daily media intake is laced with the arsenic of war, corruption, greed and suffering. Nonetheless, the calendar is crawling its way towards that icy February day calling up some distant faded memory of St. Valentine, of whom we actually know nothing, least of all why we celebrate him.

Stores are stocked with all things sugary and pink, and card companies are waiting with bated breath to cash in on that same elusive sentiment by which for some unknown reason many of us, along with John Lennon, thrive: Love. So what do you do if you don't want to celebrate a hackneyed cliché, or flush your money down the corporate toilet, but you do, in fact, believe in love's omnipotence? This Valentine's Day, why not use the power of love to help those who need a little reminder.

Volunteer at a shelter.

February is a cold month and those without a home to go to can surely benefit from your warmth. It doesn't take much: a hot meal, a bed for the night, a roof overhead. Take your significant other or your single self and spend the day volunteering at a local shelter for the homeless.

Send gifts to a hospital.

Love to shop? Great. There are tons of people, both old and young, who can't be with their loved ones, often when they most need to be. Instead of racking your brain trying to think of what else you could possibly buy your loved ones after the December holiday rush, donate gifts to a nearby hospital or care center as a small reminder that to be sick or bed-ridden is not to be forgotten.

Donate money to a charity.

Instead of handing your cash over to Hallmark, hand it over to one of these charities: http://www.networkforgood.org/

Help support disaster victims.

I bet the families of New Orleans weren't banking on spending their holidays in a new city, in temporary housing, separated from their communities and for some, their families. Help them get back on their feet by donating your time, money, or attention to their still-massive needs.

See http://www.guidestar.org/reports/partners/guidestar/hurricane.jsp for donation opportunities.

And, for heaven's sake, call your mother.

She went through a hell of a lot of pain to get you here. She deserves your love more than anyone. Give her a call.

Valentine's Day is a lot of racket, as the singles, the dumped and the less fortunate surely know. Love is not. It is something we all need to harness if we are to sift through the all the sordid bullshit of our daily encounters. Have a happy (and hopeful) Valentine's Day.