Peas Give at Christmas
A lot of times I get comments that say, “How do you come up with this stuff?!,” with “this stuff” usually being pop culture references, shameless jokes at the expense of my family or a slightly offensive one-liner. This is not one of those posts.
In fact, this is pretty rare that I have some sort of inspiration for a post rather than just the giddy fatigue from a day of parenting two and four-year-old girls non-stop from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., fueled on a plant-based diet and with some form of workout above and beyond trying to get the glitter tube away from Lulu before starts taking shots of it with a craft glue chaser.
So just in case this is your first time visting Peas and Thank You, I’ll give you two pictures from my day to let you know what you can normally expect:
1) Crazy toddler shenanigans, like Lulu’s Lisa Rinna impression; and
2) Yummy vegan eats, like this Smoothie in a Bowl.
- spinach
- frozen pineapple
- frozen mango
- frozen strawberries
- almond milk
- spoonful of vanilla soy protein powder
- stevia
- topped with cinnamon, Kashi Go Lean and Vanilla Almond Granola
But my post tonight really was inspired. I had no clue what I was going to write about, because Gigi had a playdate here today, which really limited my picture taking abilities. I’m against exploiting children, unless they are my own.
So this afternoon, we were running to Target to get a toy for a tag off of our church’s Giving Tree and a book to donate to our local community center.
I was feeling all self-righteous and such as we got in line to pay for our gifts (along with lip gloss and Annie’s Bunny Grahams–how’d those get in our cart?!?), and then I noticed the cart in front of me.
A young man, probably a few years younger than me, and a middle-aged woman, who in actuality was probably the one a few years younger than me, were pushing TWO CARTS FULL OF TOYS. The carts had mostly board games (at least twenty Candyland games), books and dozens and dozens of basketballs. It took my breath away and I started to tear up, because I knew exactly what these two were up to. I asked the young man if they were donating all the toys and he said that yes, in fact they were.
I thanked him and realized how many childrens’ holidays were going to be better because of these people. It can be the same for you.
I’ve seen a lot of other fantastic bloggers who I love put together really great Gift Guides for Christmas (Gena, I want everything on your list, and Erin, the Obama Chia Head has been ordered), but it just didn’t feel like something I should do. Then tonight, I felt inspired to put together another kind of Gift Guide.
Maybe you’ve seen a Giving Tree at your local school, bank, grocery store or church. Maybe you have a tag like ours that you still need to shop for. In any case, here are some gift suggestions for ANYONE who’s tag you might have pulled (or will now go pull!) or that you may just want to donate at your local shelter or Salvation Army. Each of these gifts can be found for under $20, and you’d have probably spent that going to see some strange looking movie with full grown alien Smurfs or New Moon for the third or fourth time.
For Young Kids:
- Magnadoodles–these are like the new generation of Etch O’ Sketchs and my girls fight over ours, so there’s a ringing endorsement.
- Games–think Candyland, Elefun, Memory or any other games you typically hear me complaining about.
- Art kit–fill a Tupperware container with paper, crayons, markers, glue, glitter, feathers, beads, etc. We gave our girls a kit on Gigi’s first birthday and are refilling it again this year.
- Building Blocks–Duplo blocks or even just old school wooden blocks. Build ‘em up, just to knock ‘em down.
- Make-believe play props–costumes, plastic food (besides what you get in the McDonald’s drive thru), a play cash register, fake money, did I mention costumes?
- Books, books and more books!
Teens
- For girls–put together a gift bag of fun cosmetics, like lip gloss and nail polish, a teen mag, some sugarless gum, maybe a cute scarf or gloves, and a $5 gift card to Starbucks or Jamba Juice. What does it say about me that I want this one under my tree?
- For boys–try sports memorabilia from your local professional sports team or university, sporting goods, like basketballs, baseball mitts and footballs, a cool beanie or baseball cap and that same $5 gift card to Starbucks or Jamba Juice.
Adults
(Get it? I’m acting like an adult)
- For women–think of what you would want, namely lotion, jewelry, makeup, a journal scarf, or slippers.
- For men–donate a wallet, watch, cologne, slippers, or a robe.
- For either–gas cards, grocery gift certifcates or restaurant gift cards
In case you don’t like any of these ideas but still want to do something:
- Go through your closets for coats, heavy blankets, gloves and scarfs to donate;
- Donate used eyeglasses at your local LensCrafters;
- Turn your old tennis shoes in at Nike stores;
- Clean out your pantry and donate canned beans, soups, tuna fish, peanut butter, pasta, canned fruits and vegetables;
- Donate to Holly‘s goal of building a well in Cambodia; or even just
- Drop some change in the next Salvation Army bell ringer’s bucket you come across.
How do you plan to give this season? Have you done so already? Please tell me in the Comments Section. You deserve recognition and you may inspire someone else to do something too!
Please think about how you can do something for others this holiday. Your simple generosity could mean a smile on a child’s face (a child that but by the grace of God could be one of my girls) or just a far better day for someone just like you, but with a less fortunate lot in life.
I’ll be back tomorrow with the usual post, but I really needed to do this one tonight, so thank you.
Every year I feature “Christmas for Your Insides” on my blog. Every day I highlight a worthy charity for possible donation. Also, each month I have a Charity of the Month on the blog as well.
I love this post, you are right christmas is more about giving then recieving and sometimes I forget that.
Also peas come home for christmas would be good (I am a huge bon jovi fan).
Lulu looks much cuter than Lisa.
You absolutely should coat Lulu in tanning lotion next Halloween and send her out as L.R., she’s a dead ringer.
Thanks for the ‘giving’ post, it made me think “I can do something today.” I might not have much but I can still make a donation. Have a great day.
We have a a giving tree at church, and pick a name or 2 off of it. I love going when everyone brings the presents for all the kids.
This is such a wonderful thing and I really hope that more people are motivated to give a little something more this year to people who are in need. Thank you for sharing your inspiration and ideas, as I am sure it will provide so many people the little “push” that they need to get involved!
This year has been seen a downturn economically in our home as well as so many others. So my husband and I decided to send the money we would have spent on each other to some missionary friends with six kids to help get the desires of their little hearts. We are having fun getting stocking stuffers for each other but I feel so much better than I would have with tons of stuff under our tree. You have a big sweet heart M. Pea! Oh, and Lulu’s Lisa lips made me laugh out loud as the sun was coming up here in the NE. Thanks for that. xo
This was beautiful post! It’s so important to give back at Christmastime (and all the time). I always try to do as much as I can (without getting burned out by trying to do EVERYthing), so I’m really grateful for extra ideas. I’ll be checking back for inspiration from the other readers’ ideas.
(And lol, I am one of the people who’s asked you how you come up with your creative-fun posts!)
I really enjoyed this post, it’s a nice reminder of what this season is all about. I “adopted” a Salvation Army angel this year. My child was a 3 mo old little girl who I had a blast shopping for. There is no better feeling than you get when helping someone in need. It made my Christmas season brighter and hopefully her’s too.
I love all your posts – and the growing out bangs look nice, too. You’re just pretty.
Also, doesn’t that always happen? Just when you’re getting up on your prideful righteous high horse, God sends the best smackdowns. He’s good like that.
Those are all great ideas, let me add some more:
Write or send items to troops overseas.
Ask friends for their favorite charities and in lieu of exchanging gifts, donate in each others’ names.
Offer babysitting (or play dates or similar) to parents who need some time to finish Christmas prepping – be generous with your time this holiday season if you have any to spare (and you usually do, unless like Mama Pea you ARE the aforementioned parent who needs time).
If you’re getting your family a pet for Christmas, ADOPT. (We aren’t able to have a pet right now and I STILL want to adopt every dog and cat I see at the SPCA website. Breaks my heart.) Or consider becoming animal foster parents for the new year.
Small things add up: for every minute you spend on someone other than yourself, the world’s a much better place, and a nice boost is you DO get to feel better about yourself – just, no high horses, right?
(Sorry for writing a whole entire post in your comments – this is a topic dear to me.)
Awesome gift guide. I gave a couple of games to toys for tots this year – Candy Land and Chutes and Ladders. Games are so cheap! I don’t have a lot to give, so this was perfect for my budget. Some day I hope to have a little more money so I can give some more, but for now I know that whatever I can do is enough.
Great ideas
It always nice to give back to your community during the holidays, especially to those who don’t have the same luxuries as you. Nice post Mama Pea.
What a lovely post, Mama Pea. I have done quite the charitable donation lifestyle the past 5 years. I have a rule that if I havent used it in 3-4 months, and definitely 12, that it gets donated, no matter what I paid for it. Period. So people in the various San Diego area Salvation Army type places have no doubt received some of my things…everything from never worn women’s, children’s, and men’s clothes, to toys to cookware. It feels good to declutter and help others out, all at the same time.
I recently taught yoga classes that were free for people who brought in food for the food bank.
And throughout the year, I try to send things to friends and family that aren’t expected, just random. It’s also two fold as it helps them have a great day from the mailbox AND it causes me less at-the-holidays-stress.
And we make private contributions monetarily to a variety of charities and funds.
I totally try to do my part and appreciate this post alot!
I hope you’re doing ok, haven’t seen you in awhile. Hope life is good for you and just really busy
I know this is suchhhh a ridiculously crazy time of the year for everyone. And I loved your opening line about parenting 2 kids, exercising, on a plant based diet…that feels like me, except I just have one kidlet!
xoxo
so true. we always go through our closets to find all the clothes we never wear and donate them to a homeless shelter. every little bit helps!
This was truly a lovely post Sarah and I’m glad you wrote about this subject.
As much as I love the holiday season I always feel a little sad when I remember that there are so many others out there who don’t have a warm house, family or food, let alone a plethora of gifts to open. At the YMCA we have an “Angel Tree” where you choose a child’s name and buy a gift for that child. This evening the Y provides dinner and then there’s a little party where we can watch all the kids open their gifts. These are kids who attend the Y’s after-school programs and would not have the opportunity to do so without our annual “We Build People” fundraiser. Basically they’re children of low-socioeconomic families who are provided a place to make friends, participate in activities and experience love because of the members and corporations who donate money to provide for these kids. I bought a gift to bring to the Y and I can’t wait to see the looks on the kids’ faces when they open their gifts tonight.
I’m not sure that made sense…it sounds right in my head but for some reason I can’t type it out.
Again, great topic…
http://www.kiva.org
For a few bucks (or a lot of bucks) you can give a microloan to someone trying to build a business in a third world country. They slowly repay the loan back and, at the end, you can either take your money back or choose to loan someone else the money.
If you go to the website, click on the “Lend” button and you can see how many people are trying to build something better for themselves.
Thanks!
Wonderful post
I totally agree. When I have kids, one tradition I want to do with them (that I currently do with my husband), is to go shopping for an angel tree child, or some other similar thing that my church sponsors. What a good way to teach kids about giving. I really admire your parenting, and I am storing up lots of good ideas from daily reading your blog!
Instead of buying nice Christmas cards or even the awesome Christmas photo cards I alter a photo and then scan it in as a JPEG and print it as a regular photo at the local pharmacy store for .09 each and then donate the savings (which I figure to be about $2.00 per card) to a charity last year was the American Cancer Society this year it is Heifer International. And our card says that on it. Also if ANYONE asks what I or my husband wants for Christmas we ask for charitable donations. And lastly DH and I give to a “charity for a year” for each other – last year (and it is continuing this year because well you can’t just quit after a year with this one) was the Christian Children’s fund and I have gotten to “meet” a wonderful girl (who you just reminded me I need to send Christmas presents to TODAY)
You have me tearing up.
Growing up we always adopted a family and brought them a basket full of food plus presents for each person in the family. In return they always gave us a heartfelt homemade present. It felt so good to do something so meaningful, knowing it would make someone’s holiday nicer and full of food and laughs and presents.
A great post. I’ve been lurking on your blog for a few weeks. I eat generally healthy (except for the Wendys French fries I consumed last nite, but hey, I’m pregnant). But, you really inspire me to take it up a notch. I’ve been making different smoothies concoctions daily now.
Our daughter was stillborn in March. This should have been her first Xmas. I wanted to donate a bunch of toys in her honor, but it was too difficult to be in the stores. So, instead we made monetary donations to March of Dimes, Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep, and our local animal shelter. I’ve asked friends and family to do the same in lieu of gifts.
Your family is adorable. Thanks for the giggles.
Mama you just made me cry. It is because of the generosity of people like you and that couple that we are able to see smiles on hundreds of kids faces this year when we help them. I’m dead tired but knowing that I get to do this for those in need makes it worth it. I can sleep after Christmas.
Thank you so much for posting this. We really appreciate it.
I have not been able to give financially this year but I have had the spirit and even if it something small, I’m going to try. I’m also going to give more of my time, like helping wrap presents that were purchased for a single mother who works for our company and her 5 kids. I also want to volunteer at the soup kitchen, I did it one year with my parents on Christmas Eve when I was a teen and it was such a blessing.
Thanks for writing this post
I LOVE this post. I volunteer with a nonprofit in DC called Horton’s Kids, that takes kids from the WORST housing project in the city, buses them to Capitol Hill to tutor and mentor them thrice weekly, with big outings on Sundays. At Christmas, I typically adopt a child and get their wishlists. I’ve given a bicycle to an 8 year old ($40 at Walmart, hardly breaking the bank); a Tracfone with extra phone cards for a teen; and for two years in a row, I’ve donated $120 for a twin bed. Many of these kids don’t even have beds! Nuts! They often share beds with siblings or pile up bunches of dirty clothes to sleep on. The way I figure it, that’s two dinners that my husband and I don’t go out to for the year so that a child has a warm and clean place to sleep. Again, awesome post, and I love that you’re reminding the blogworld that this season is truly about giving. Have a great holiday with your girls!
Every year (for the last five years) instead of buying my parents and grandparents a gift that they really don’t need or use, I pick a kid from the Angel Tree. I combine all the money I would’ve spent on my parents and grandparents to buy what that child has requested. I usually take a picture of all the clothes and toys I bought and give a copy of the photo to my parents and grandparents as their gift.
My parents and grandparents are hard to shop for because they buy whatever they need anyways. I’ll never forget the first year I did this and when my grandpa opened up the envelope with the picture and I explained to him what I had done…he started crying. One of two times I ever saw my grandpa cry. (And now I’m crying thinking about it.)
My parents and grandparents are the most generous and giving people I know and this gift means the world to them and they always tell me how they’d much rather I spend the money helping out someone else rather than buying them gifts they don’t need. Plus, picking out toys and clothes for kids is always a ton of fun for me!
Aw, Mama Pea! Way to make my heart swell with love – tis the season for giving. My charity event I participated in raised money for a family (dad and two sons) who’s mother had just passed away from an extremely long battle with cancer a few months ago. Their medical bills are astronomical so by donating my time (and some money) they will hopefully be able to have a good Christmas as well as pay off some of their debt.
My daughters birthday was the beginning of this month and for one of her gifts she received a toys r us giftcard. The day after her birthday I asked her if she would like to go get a new toy with her giftcard and her response was ” no I already have a lot of new toys. I don’t need anymore.”. I sat puzzled for a minute hearing this come out of my 4 year olds mouth. I then asked her if she would like to use the giftcard to buy a toy for a little boy or girl that didn’t have any toys. She jumped up with excitement and said yes! So that’s what we did. We went to toys r us and picked out something for a little boy and girl and donated them to “toys for tots.” I have never been more proud of her
I love this post! Maya gets so many toys as gifts throughout the year and I manage to sneak them away before she sees/starts playing with them. At the end of the year I gather them all up and I have a giant bag of brand new toys to donate! Just another idea for those with kids who have grandparents that don’t know when to stop!
Mama Pea, just wanted to say thank you for this post. When I was younger (think late middle school/early high school) my family was one of the families that would get a basket of food and gifts from generous people like you (and all of you commenting!). We would get excited for whatever canned goods, pastas and fruits were inside and there were a couple Christmases where those were the only gifts under our tree. It means SO MUCH, no matter how small
Gas card is a Great idea.. i never thought about it.So what are your suggestions for the Preschool Teachers??
You are SUPER FUNNY..
What great ideas!
Our Christmas this year is actually VERY different than normal.
After finding out that the orphanage we visit in Honduras is running out of funding (and fast), my entire family decided to do homemade gifts this year – and with the money we’re saving by NOT buying many gifts, we are going to send the money to the orphanage for whatever they need, as well as save up some of the money so we can go again this coming summer. Those boys need all of this more than I need anything.
Thank you for this post
Great post and great ideas! Thanks for sharing
As you well know, I’m a coupon freak. I regularly get groceries and health/beauty items for free, so throughout the year I set aside free h/b items in Rubbermaid boxes and at Christmas I’m able to take at least 3 full boxes to a few shelters, and it didn’t cost me a cent. Ryan also likes to pick things from the “grocery store”, aka, my grocery stockpile in the garage, to take along. I can normally make a few large boxes of grocery items without making a dent in my stockpile or my budget. I love all the ideas and things your readers do also, there are such wonderful people out there…Merry Christmas everyone!
I actually just brought in a bag of stuff to work to donate! We have a box set up. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. We also took a bunch of stuff to Goodwill this past weekend too.
i’m glad you did your gift suggestions with this angle! we are big givers during the holidays in our house too.
so far this season for me:
my firm adopted two salvation army families, then we all signed up for specific items we want to purchase
i also took up a couple collections of socks, hats, gloves, coats etc, and then met up with my friend mary to hand them out downtown as the weather got cold.
and if i could just make a suggestion… especially in portland… DONATE SOCKS. people need warm/dry feet, and that often gets overlooked!
i also dropped of toiletries to the women’s shelter… for anyone who doesn’t want to hand things out themselves, just take them to a shelter and they will hand them out.
i also volunteered for “help portrait” last weekend (INCREDIBLE… will be an upcoming blog post of its own) photographers, hair, makeup, and assistants volunteered and took photos of portland families and big brother/big sisters, then printed and gave the photos to the families… you’d be amazed how much allowing someone to have a photo of their family will do for them.
i dont tell you this b/c i need any recognition… but maybe my efforts will give someone else some good ideas??? anything you can do to make someone else’s holiday brighter… DO IT! =)
Thanks for this post! I did a clothing drive for Service Learning in one of my courses and donated over 7 gigantic bags of gently used clothing to our local domestic violence shelter. Because of this, my mom decided to convince her office to adopt a family this year instead of doing gift exchanges. Even the smallest things – like spending $10 extra at the grocery store to buy some canned goods for a food bank – make a difference!
I heard on the news last night that someone stole over $500 worth of toys at a local church, and I started bawling. Yes, I am an emotional wreck lately, but how can someone do that? Ugh.
You’re a good one, Mama Pea
Thank you so much for posting this. Excellent ideas. Every year my partner and I each get a “winter wishes” letter from a child in NYC and buy them presents. It’s so important to teach children giving back at such a young age – you are modeling the kind of parent I hope to be someday!
MAMA PEA…I LOVE THIS!
you know…i think most of us live comfortable lives, and its just too easy to forget those who don’t have as much. it doesn’t take a lot…just a gift here or some spare change there. this post makes me love you even more, which i didn’t think was possible.
and thank you for the linkback/shout out – it means SO much to have so much support!
loves!
You are so fantastic. So so fantastic.
I plan to donate food to a food bank. I am in a financial crisis personally, but I want to do something, so I am determined to drop off a full 1-2 bags of food to a food-donation-place. Have a nice day
This is a great post. Thanks for sharing these ideas.
It feels like it’s so hard to give this year – but it’s really important. I just finished up helping out with a charity campaign at work, and we were able to raise over $170,000 in just two months. It’s amazing what people can do together.
I donated money to the American Farmland Trust because I don’t want our farmland to shrink any further. No farms, no food. That’s their motto.
I’m going to look into donating some gifts as well – mainly because your post inspired me!
Thank you for posting this! I really like all of your suggestions, especially the special but still practical adult gifts.
I work at Barnes & Noble and we are doing a book drive for a local middle school who DOESN’T have a library. They just don’t have one, which is so insane to me. I encourage every customer to donate (we have books starting at $4, which is less than people spend on a coffee, haha) and I personally bought a handful. This fundraiser is specific to our location but I’m sure other stores have similar events going on!
easiest donation everrrrr, via my church
all the missmatched socks you have? someone who has no socks would love a mismatched pair-it’s better than none! (and, it’s sustainable. my church likes sustainable) they’re a great thing to give to homeless shelters and such
Mama Pea, what a beautiful post!!
I grew up in a home where my parents always, always helped others – throughout the year, not just during the holidays. So, I’ve discovered all sorts of ways to help. Sometimes it costs more, sometimes next to nothing. But I’ve also discovered something else: No matter how much money or time is spent, the end result is always the same — a huge smile and even teary eyes on the face of the people who are on the receiving end. That’s priceless!
How do we help? For Thanksgiving, we just hosted a family who was on the verge of being homeless. And this Christmas we’re baking holiday treats for local shelters. A good number of the ones who will be receiving our goody bags are Vets. They’ve served our country and they deserve to be remembered. These are homeless Vets, by the way. Homeless.
Anyway, we bake stuff that comes to our mind, and also take requests. The folks at one shelter requested brownies – so brownies, it is! We’ll also be baking banana bread, cookies, making peppermint bark, and filling out Christmas cards for each person.
You know, it’s a great idea to hand out those gift cards you mentioned for restaurants or coffee shops to the homeless as well. Imagine what a hot meal or drink would do to warm their body, heart, and soul?!
Thanks for sharing, Mama Pea.
Hugs!
Michele
Wonderful post!
Every year we do shoeboxes for Samaritan’s Purse. It’s fun, it’s simple and it’s wonderful. My baby sister gets so into it. I love seeing your gift ideas. It inspires me to give even more than just my shoebox.
Thank you so much for this selfless post, Mama. I’m going to put in extra hours at the soup kitchen this season and donate- rather than throw out- gently used items that I’m not using.
What a wonderful post.
I work in a Chiropractic clinic, and we held a “Food Bank Day”, offering our patients discounts on their treatment IF they brought the EQUIVALENT in food for the local bank. We’ve kept this going all month, and got every practitioner involved. The response has been WONDERFUL and people have brought in cases of canned soups, chili and other meals.
Not in the spirit of giving, but being grateful, we’ve also had a “Gratitude Wall” for the last two months. I Put “I Am Grateful For…” in huge letters on the wall, put out markers and crayons and tons of slips of paper. Patients have written what they’ve been grateful for and taped it on the wall. It’s just been a wonderful reminder to be thankful for all we have – even if it’s a day off work, or that you had a cup of coffee this morning. I’ll keep this up, and perhaps start it at home sometime.
Wonderful post Mama Pea! (I’m a lurker…finally coming out of the shadows!)
Awww Mama Pea, this is spectacular!
Thus far I’ve only donated to help build Holly’s dream of a well in Cambodia, but I need to do something more for sure. But what I like to do every single day is smile at everyone, talk to strangers, generally freak them out..you know. I think the kindness is what really helps someone any day.
Great Post Love!! I love the idea of helping out others during the holiday season as the holidays are a magical time for me and I would love everyone to experience the same magic i am blessed to have! You rock!
Last year was so much fun getting items together for families in need, it makes my heart melt!
Have a great day!!
XXOO
Great posts and love reading all the responses (my heart goes out Bree especially).
We give all year round (in Aug we bought my brother his Xmas present which was a t-shirt that benefits Avalanche rescue dogs), but this year we’re keeping things close to home. Chris recently spent some volunteer hours at a Food Bank for work and he was especially sad for the people who wanted dog treats when there were no more. We will probably make a large dog treat donation soon. We also had an arsonist close to our community so we will be giving time and money to the Arson Relief fund. I feel good that we can actually see and feel the good, if you know what I mean.
On a side note, I’m really NOT feeling the “White Elephant/Cutthroat Santa” exchanges at the holiday parties we’re invited to this year. I don’t want to go home with crap I don’t want/need, and I hate the spirit of the whole stealing part of it. My friends LOVE it and are treating me like a big Grinch. I think next year we will just skip those parties or come/leave early.
I have volunteered to sort Angel Tree gifts at the local Salvation Army the past two years. This year, my future mother in law and my mother are going to be getting an a-traditional gift. My fiance and I took the money we would have spent on gifts for them and adopted two angel tree children. We had a shopping spree at Wal Mart, and took a bunch of funny pictures in the process (i.e. fiance picking out Barbies and princess clothes, and some people of Wal Mart pictures). I am going to make a book for each mother with pictures of the items we donated, names of the kids, etc. etc. Anything to make my mom cry
Because of the economy, the local Salvation Army said they still have 2/3 of the Angels unfulfilled and it’s barely a week until Christmas. Thanks for blogging about giving back, Mama Pea. It’s easy to get caught up in finding the perfect gift for someone – but the best gifts aren’t always material.
I hope this post inspires more people to give! Thanks for writing it Mama P
You are so right that even $20 can go a long way.
As for what we are doing this year. Money is extra tight for us this year- it’s always been tight but i mean EXTRA tight. So I teamed up with some of my girlfriends from church and we all put as much or as little as we felt we could give and contacted a local community center to get hooked up with our “Adopt A Family.” They find out the background of different families in need and then pair you up. We were lucky because this family in particular doesn’t mind hearing from us, so we are getting together the night before Christmas Eve to make them dinner and then bring it by their house along with the gifts we purchased. It’s really cool to actually get to go meet this family and let them know they are cared for. We are also making handmade devotional books full of scripture- great encouragement.
Anyway- it’s super easy, all you have to go is contact a community center, YMCA, even google online for Adopt A Family for the holiday in your area.
This post was like thera-pea to my Scrooged-out soul. I want to make an effort to donate more, whenever I can. I tend to limit donations (other than the cleaning-out-the-closet-for-Goodwill type) to causes with personal ties, like giving a few bucks towards a friend’s race or donating to my alma mater, but Lord knows I don’t know enough people in the world for that method to make much difference.
Kudos to you, Mama Pea!
My county has a program called AniMeals. Basically, it delivers animal food to pet of elderly recipients of Meals on Wheels so that their pets can eat too. Pets for these elderly people can be the only interaction these shut ins receive. I heard that the AniMeals program had run out of food, as it is run purely on donations. So some of the Meals on Wheels recipients were actually sharing their meals with their pets so they didn’t starve. I started a drive at work to collect dog and cat food then I delivered it to the animal shelter where they store the AniMeals food. It felt really great to be able to help where I knew it was needed. Not only will the animals benefit from it, but the elderly folks will be happy that their pets are being taken care of and they wont have to share their people food with their pets. Win/Win!
I also bought bikes and helmets for two boys whose father is unemployed this holiday season.
Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to all!
When I went home I went to a mexican resturant…I mean I-5 has some of the best mexican
. I walked in the front door and there was a giving tree. I took a little tag for an 8 year old girl. I thought to myself..it’s 40.00 Michelle. You don’t make tons of money…but cut out 10 coffees or a shirt.
It was SO much fun shopping for that little girl.
I was then at church. There’s a teen camp and they were looking for sponsorships. I don’t know about you, but I LOVE summer camp. It’s so much fun. I just kept thinking about the scholarship kids that used to come to camp when I worked as a staff…it was a mini-retreat for many of them.
I whipped out my credit card and knew that I it’s where my money needed to go.
To instill this in your children at such a young age is beautiful. Tearing up in Oz.
I grew up volunteering for my youth group and school clubs where we went into the community so when I got to college, there was no difference. I love working in soup kitchens, ringing Salvation Army bells, donating time, money and clothes and I give money every time I see one of those red buckets…I admire your post so much for writing about this at a time of year when so many people can contribute!
loved this post and the story about the people you saw really touched my heart. this year i’ve taken on getting gifts for a little girl. my whole family has taken on her whole family and i’ve been picking things up for her here and there and it really is SO much more fun than buying things for myself–because i know how much joy these things will bring this little girl! it’s the best! thanks for posting this <3
One of my friends from high school (who I haven’t seen since well, high school) was putting together a winter clothing drive. Her intention was to gather as many outdoor clothing gear she could get and walk downtown and hand them out herself, along with her husband. Wow! She wasn’t asking for donations to drop off at a shelter, she was going to go hand deliver these items TO HOMELESS people who need them.
I was inspired and I found a few items, incl a really nice snowboarding jacket that I hadn’t worn in a few years. I had a hard time parting with it but I realized just how lucky I am to live where I live and be able to give back to those in need. I sure hope that jacket is keeping someone warm. What an amazing service project to be a part of.
Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that the gift of giving is going strong here in Denver, Colorado. There ARE angels among us.
Wow – you took my breathe away with this one.
Two carts full of toys? This makes me feel so warm inside. Good for them – and good for you for being inspired and creating this gift guide. It’s really amazing.
When I was little, we used to pick a family to give presents to each year and I remember going shopping with my mom and getting excited that I was giving something I wanted to someone who truly needed/deserved it. Fortunately, Bobby’s work had a similar program this year and we jumped at the chance. I hope we can do it every year – best Christmas tradition ever? I think yes.
You rock! And I love your “teen” picture
Hi hi hi!! I looove your blog. I found it awhile ago through Kath’s but then didn’t save it + couldn’t remember it, until she just linked it again. YAY! Love your humor and your kids make the posts awesome.
Totally diggin’ the crunch factor on that SIAB:)
I love this time of year … I love to see all of the love and selflessness that can flow out of people!
A couple other suggestions for families: gift certificates for haircuts and car washes. If it happens to be someone in your church or neighborhood, offer to babysit for free for them. Elderly folks in nursing homes absolutely LOVE to have visits during the holidays, especially from children. I have had my children make cards or cookies for residents and then when we delivered them, they sang carols. Does your church have a food pantry? Donate non-perishables to them.
It is so very true … ’tis more blessed to give than to receive!’
I did something similar to you with the gift tags. We got four tags and bought presents that had to be £5 or less. I felt so bad, we really hardly spent anything and the volunteer we handed our gifts into was so grateful and thankful. I guess a lot of people tend to just walk by those kind of things though, which is sad because you don’t have to spend a lot and it might really mean a lot to the child who gets the gift.
Thank you for this post… There’s nothing like giving to someone in need. Last week, I brought a huge pile of spare change to TD Bank Penny Arcade (like CoinStar), and as I got off the subway, I heard the bells of the Salvation Army. After exchanging the coins for bills, I went back to the bell ringer and dropped half in (I love to give, but I am a *broke* college student who needed to buy groceries!) … I’m always looking for the next opportunity to give.
Thank you so much for linking back to me!
So sorry about the hack job…technology sucks! (I say as I’m playing with my new Ipod Touch I just got for Christmas from The Boyfriend!)
Hope you are having an amazing weekend!
XOXO,
Erin