The title of this column might seem to be over simplified but it’s true. If everyone did a little to help others, the world would be a better place.

Now I’m not preaching any kind of liberal wealth redistribution mumbo jumbo. I’m talking about helping others when you can, as you can. Not everyone can donate $1 million to charity. But everyone can hold the door for the elderly or volunteer to pick up something a busy mother has dropped. A lot of times, it’s those little things that make our days better. It could be something as simple as smiling at a stranger or offering a hug to someone grieving the loss of a loved one.

Volunteering for Habitat for Humanity, especially on the first days of a house build, gives me some of the best feelings. Swinging a hammer and toting 2x4s all day is not something I am used to. At the end of the day I am physically beat, but looking out over all that was accomplished by the group of volunteers, I am filled with the peaceful feeling of knowing I helped someone. And with Habitat, the person you help is normally right there swinging a hammer with you.

Some people feel the best way to give to others is monetarily. Many charities prefer cash, because they can pool the money and buy in bulk. Because of that, you don’t have to wait until you are able to give a large donation. Even small amounts help. How small? Let’s look.

Food pantries (like the Prodisee Pantry) rely on bulk sales. They can buy a case of vegetables for less than $5. Fresh, frozen and staple groceries that would cost us $120, they can get for around $20. Buying in bulk requires a big warehouse and lots of refrigerated coolers and freezers. But it allows them to deliver roughly six meals for a dollar.

Think about that the next time you stop and have one of those fancy, specialty coffees. For the price of that $4.50 latte, plus tax of course, a food pantry could feed a family of four all week. I’m not asking that anyone give up their caffeine. I only wanted to point out that even small donations can have big impacts.

But will a single penny make a difference? Let me throw in my two cents. I will give a simple experiment to try. All you have to do is pick up loose change that people leave on the ground. Put the money in a Mason jar and at the end of the year, donate that to charity.

Sounds too simple doesn’t it? I did it a couple of years ago and was amazed. Amazed at just how quickly one penny multiplied.

We all see pennies on the ground in parking lots and usually leave them. But when you start looking for them, you begin to notice that it’s not just pennies. There are also nickels, dimes and quarters out there waiting for you. Finding coins in a parking lot is fairly easy. Even if they are not shiny, the round coins stand out against the rough, jagged asphalt. Once you get the proper mindset, anything round will stand out like it has a spotlight on it. Of course, you do have to sift through washers, bottle caps and any other round objects to locate the cold, hard cash.

I found myself parking a little further away from the stores to give me more parking lot to scan. It had the added benefit of walking further and getting more exercise. And if you think about it, searching for a round object in a textured world is a mental exercise.

Most of the time, I found just one or two pennies. Other times there might be more. Occasionally I would find a small pile of change scattered over an area the size of a parking space. And there were even times I happened across folding money. It makes you feel like you are accomplishing something when you look in your Mason jar (I actually used a clear liter beer stein I picked up in Germany) and see glimpses of paper.

By the time December rolled around, I had a nice pile of change which I gave to the Salvation Army. I did roll the coins and convert them into folding money before sticking it in the Red Kettle. How much did I have? I’m not going to say. I don’t want to spoil it in case a reader wants to undertake this task.

William Moore is the Senior Editor at Gulf Coast Newspapers.