Holiday Giving On A Budget

I love how the holidays bring out a more generous, hospitable spirit in people. I know, we really should behave this way all year, and there’s much to be said about why people don’t give year-round but… right now, I want to enjoy the fact that this time of year, people’s hearts open like flowers.

There are many ways to give to others, even on a slim budget.

Make it, Bake it – Donate items you make or bake to a local charity. Sew book covers for schoolchildren, bake quick breads for nursing homes, offer to help a food kitchen.
Time is Money – Volunteer at events or school programs, offer to collect toys or organize fundraisers.
Purchasing Power – Purchase products that give a percentage to charities – then purchases you make will go towards a good cause.
Workplace Giving – Encourage your workplace to do a charitable contribution instead of a “Secret Santa” – I mean, who needs another coffee mug with a tacky saying on it, anyway, right?
Shop at home – go through closets and drawers. Chances are you have new, unused items that could find a home elsewhere, package these up and donate them. Where? Well, here’s where I plan to donate items this year:

Operation Christmas Child – an outreach of Samaritan’s Purse, this charity donated 8 million shoe boxes of gifts to children last year. EIGHT MILLION!! This year I am packing a shoe box for one boy and one girl and sending it off to be given to a needy child. With this program, you can even track your box to its destination! I can’t wait to find out where my boxes go!

Shoe boxes can be filled with toys, educational supplies, hygiene items and more. You choose the gender and age (from 2-14) of your box. A small donation of $7 covers the cost of shipping the box, and you can drop your box off at one of over 2,000 local collection centers (great places to volunteer!) – I am lucky enough to have a collection center right in my town!

So pack a shoe box, or choose another way to give back this holiday season. I am excited to participate in Operation Christmas Child this year, and I anticipate this will be an annual event for us to share with our children as our family grows and teach them the joy of giving.

How do you teach your children to give to others? Do you have other suggestions for giving on a budget?

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T Rex Mom

Wednesday 10th of November 2010

I think I told you last year I made all my Christmas gifts. This year, I am attempting to do the same. It definitely keeps cost down. But it is time intensive. We also use a lot of canned goods for gifts, too. And I also ask for homemade things from my family - i.e. homemade salsa, homemade cookies, homemade salad dressing, frozen meals, etc.As far as giving to others. We usually do Toys for Tots. Actually, last year, I had our son choose three toys he received new for his birthday to donate to Toys for Tots. This year we're not really having a big party so he won't get any new toys to donate. But he already went through and donated a bunch of things to our local charity. We keep a finite number of toys. Therefore, if anything new is received, something old has to go. And we've been reading "The Bertstein Bears Get the Gimmies" this week, too.

Crunchy Beach Mama

Wow some great ideas!Our local Chick-fli-a does the shoebox thing which reminds me ours is due already! It is great for the kids to learn how to give and they really enjoy it too :)

stacythemagnificentm

What a wonderful organization! I'm going to do that this year. Thank you for spotlighting or I doubt I would have heard about them.As to the question, my kids seem to learn by example and being so young, right now it is at home(that's where things should start anyways, right? =) Yesterday while outside my friends 16mo old started bringing me rocks, cherry tomatoes, sticks. With each one I exclaimed Thank You! and made a big deal over how nice it was. Soon the bigger kids were doing the same thing(all 2-3 1/2). I thought it interesting that they learned from the example of a toddler half their age...