Here’s a little holiday cheer, in the midst of hard times, according to an annual poll conducted by the International Charities Aid Foundation, Americans are both volunteering more and giving more to charity. And in a year that saw the 99% begin to gain its voice, it also saw the resilience and empathy of that 99% as the survey showed once again that the upper-class was undistinguished in their donations as opposed to those less fortunate who are strikingly generous.

Nearly two-thirds of Americans said they had donated money to charity, more than 40% volunteered their time, and close to three-fourths said they had helped a stranger. Of those numbers households earning less than $25,000 a year on average still gave 4.2% of their incomes while those households making $75,000 or more gave on average 2.7%.

The poll shows an encouraging trend that there was indeed more generosity but a dampening caveat and a reminder of the struggle so many are still facing are the facts that the demand for aid is rising faster than donations and the wealthiest 1% still suffer from a compassion deficit.

While the inability to empathetically relate to others’ needs isn’t particularly surprising as we’ve seen an experiential gap between the classes, the resolve of the 99% to continue to strive towards a more equitable society while still giving to those even less fortunate belies the country’s “every man for himself” reputation that the 1% has so solidly built up.