What matters is that you gave...
... a shit.
There's a line from a poem by William Blake that says:
"...love without the help of anyone on earth."
I know, it is hard, to not recieve acknowledgemnt of the love you give. But that is not why you give it, is it? You give it because it is your nature, your own personal code of ethics.
Living your code is its own reward.
(As long as you do it without surrender.(i.e.: Don't be a doormat.))