What charities/volunteer work are your kids contributing to this holiday season?

[citymama]

Other than church or temple/religious institution related?

I'm looking for different charitable giving opportunities to engage my kids in, especially the older one. We always do one night where she gets to pick a charity to contribute to in lieu of a hannukah present. She almost always picks an animal shelter. This year she picked Heifer Intl where rural families receive gifts of livestock or utilitarian farm animals. I'm also thinking about volunteer opportunities but again, her personal preference is an animal shelter rather than soup kitchen. We have donated canned food, wrapped gifts for families etc through her school, which I think is a terrific way for them to be thinking about generosity and sharing. What are some things your families do? Do you sustain it through the year? Thanks for sharing your experiences!

[LexyLou]

My 7 year old works at a food pantry once a month in SF. My MIL has volunteered there for years and goes every Saturday. She brings DD with her once a month.

It's a great experience!

[brittone2]

Nothing earth shattering, but we take them to shop for Toys for Tots every year. THis year we talked about whether they'd want to contribute some money of their own, and both DS1 and DD decided to partially fund our purchases. We also shop for the food pantry and drop those items off. DH's grandmother is in an Alzheimer's unit, so I'm going to have the kids decorate a small faux tree and then we're going to take it to her before Christmas. As part of their co-op class this year, they learned to play Jingle Bells and one other Christmas song on the recorder, so we may ask the unit if they'd like to hear the kids play...in dearGMIL's unit, the residents are often out in the common area participating in activities, etc. and the woman who leads that keeps them active and busy. So if they are up for it and the residents want to hear it, the kids may play for them. They also made little art cards as part of co-op (mini paintings, etc.) and the intent was that those would be delivered to local nursing homes.

I'd like to do more, but it is tough to find places that allow kids to really participate in a hands-on way.

[redhookmom]

kiva.org!

My daughter has loaned the same $25 four times. It is wonderful lesson for her in so many different ways. She goes on and decides where to lend the money.


Molly

[Gracemom]

We just volunteered yesterday sorting canned food for a local organization that gives food and gifts to needy families at this time of the year. We spent an hour and a half unpacking and sorting the food donations. My nine year old really got into it. We were tired at the end! I am so proud of her, and definitely want to continue doing it on a regular basis.

[brittone2]

kiva.org!

My daughter has loaned the same $25 four times. It is wonderful lesson for her in so many different ways. She goes on and decides where to lend the money.


Molly
I'm intrigued by this idea. I've read about Kiva and love the idea...I didn't think about encouraging my kids to do this. What age was your DD when she started to provide loans via Kiva? Good to see you here, BTW!

[megs4413]

this year (as well as in years past) we will (or already have):

-clean out their play room and have them select toys/books to donate, then take those to Goodwill (already done)
-select an Angel from an Angel Tree and buy gifts, wrap, and donate (already done)
-do extra chores around the house to raise some money for the salvation army (the kids love to put it in the bucket, so that's how they choose where to give! LOL)
-put together a Christmas shoebox for Operation Christmas Child (already done)
-do a food pantry grocery shopping trip and donate food to the food pantry

[mik8]

Christmas shoebox, angel from an angel tree, and donating unused toys/clothes.

[redhookmom]

I think my daughter was 8 when she came home from girl scouts talking about Kiva.org. It has been a great experience. She is now 10 and has added some of her own money to her lending pot. She becomes very attached to the stories. One of the many reason I like that she participates is she is getting a lessons in seed money, money management, and the whole it takes a village concept. I am jealous but don't what to hijack her thing.

[AnnieW625]

Our church's Movement for a Better World food donation project. She brings in her food today. It isn't much, but it works for us and it is simple to explain as well.

When we see them all of our extra coins we have when we are at the store go to the Salvation Army bell ringers.

As a family we are donating an animal (probably a sheep) to Heifer International as a gift to some of our extended family (paternal aunt & uncle, 3 cousins, two great aunts, and one if those great aunt's life partner).

We donate clothes and other items to Goodwill, Salvation Army, and some veterans organizations in our area all year long.

[wellyes]

I volunteered at our food pantry this year and it was incredibly eye opening. Actually being with the people you are helping, seeing their lives, has a different impact than shopping or donating or looking online for causes. It really brings it close to home. I saw a woman with 4 kids take items I had donated. I would recommend volunteering there to any kid middle school and up.

BTW, they are always looking for boy volunteers. The energy and high metabolism of teenaged boys makes them great at cheerfully carrying bags of groceries and loading up cars, even if it's freezing out.

[rlu]

One I haven't seen mentioned yet is Holiday Mail for Heroes - we had our scouts do this. The cards need to be in by early Dec, so too late for this year, but wanted to get the word out for next year.

http://www.redcross.org/support/get-involved/holiday-mail-for-heroes

We also pick out food for the food bank (must be 14 to volunteer at the warehouse here), collect food through Scouting for Food drive, donate toys for Toys for Tots and the Christ Child gift (our church collects for the local Mission). One of the boys who bridged from our Pack to Boyscouts last March is running a toy collection for the local family shelter so we bought an art set for that.

We donate clothes to the mission year-round.

I like the idea of kiva. I like it that PP mentioned it came through her girl scouts - will mention to DH for our cubscouts.

[brittone2]

I think my daughter was 8 when she came home from girl scouts talking about Kiva.org. It has been a great experience. She is now 10 and has added some of her own money to her lending pot. She becomes very attached to the stories. One of the many reason I like that she participates is she is getting a lessons in seed money, money management, and the whole it takes a village concept. I am jealous but don't what to hijack her thing.
Great! I think DS1 could definitely comprehend the idea and might be interested in doing this in the future. Thanks for the idea!

[MamaMolly]

Lula's school is collecting toys for kids in a halfway house. Her grade is donating for 9 and 10 year olds. I found three really nice craft kits, and we turned them in today.

[citymama]

These are all wonderful.

I should add that DD1 is really resistant to the idea of things like Toys for Tots and charity involving human beings. One part of it is being a 6 yr old and the other is the difficulty of acknowledging inequality and poverty. I grew up seeing it around me and I absolutely could not put my head in the sand. Our kids don't as much (unless we expose them to it through volunteering at homeless shelters or soup kitchens) and acknowledging that reality is very painful.

I really like the Kiva idea. She was on board with Heifer so I think she might "get" Kiva as well.

[hillview]

kids took food in to school for a food bank
kids will take in toys to school for a toy drive
we are doing a large set of gifts to the home for little wanderers (sponsoring 4 kids and a family).

[bostonsmama]

Our local Union Mission has a donation sales store as well as food pantry. I remember showing up to help sort Thanksgiving baskets, but the turnout was so good that all the work was done when I arrived w/ DD. Instead, she asked if I would do the work NO ONE wanted to do: sort shoes. Boxes and boxes of used shoes get donated to charities. They all have to be sorted/matched (you get rubber gloves), and most wind up going to Africa (save for snowboots). I'll tell you, sorting some of the dirty, used shoes that came in was embarrassing (as an American). Of 3 pallets of boxes, 12 pairs went to resale shop, 60% went to Africa, and 35% went in the trash. We weren't allowed to clean any shoes, so if you donate shoes: clean them!! Some really nice shoes could have been resold if they weren't dirty. Anyways, with DD in the Ergo we got to do this. As she takes directions better, I know she'll be a great help with this, and it's always welcome. We've served meals at the Union Mission before, but it's sex segregated, so I can't go without my husband or a team of 5+...and children are not encouraged to come unless they're 13+.

Sponsoring a child overseas through Compassion International is a great way for your family to see love at work over the course of the whole year (not just during the holiday season). You can write letters to the child you're sponsoring, often getting to see a girl get to go to school (instead of work in sweat shops or pick fields). Also, schedule a time to give to a charity after the holidays, when donations plummet.

Last year we did a charity advent calendar where I tried to find the most creative way to donate $5/day during the Advent season. I know DD was a little young, but at least it wasn't just opening a toy for herself every day.