Giving Back This Holiday Season

Angel Trees, food and coat drives, Toys for Tots. Taking old towels and blankets to an animals shelter or rescue. Child's Play, where they can pick a toy for children stuck in a hospital off that hospital's Amazon list. Cookies and other goodies for local police, firefighters and EMT. Singing at the old folks' home or senior center.

My kids (2 and 3 1/2) pick out a toy for Toys for TOTS, and we also sponsor an Angel Tree family at my school that the kids pick out the gifts for. We also go through their toys in November when we are giving thanks during Thanksgiving week and we donate toys they no longer play with to the Women's Shelter and a church close to our home. That way when Christmas does come they have room. My daughter doesn't really understand it yet, she just thinks we are "cleaning up", but my son this year got it. He has added the "kids who need help" to his nightly prayers, and any time he sees a Toys for Tots bin he asks if we can buy a present for it.

I recently came across this website called "Wee Volunteers" for little kids volunteer opportunities in Dallas. It might be a bit far from Forney, but maybe you can keep up with other things they might do in the future.
http://www.weevolunteer.org/

We do various things. When the kids were younger, we helped them go through their toys and books and then the kids went with us to donate them to the church store. We still do this with our youngest.

We have bought gifts for angels from angel trees. This year instead we "adopted" a student in need from the school where I teach. It made it more real for my own children because they hear me talk about my students all the time, so when we went out and bought gifts they seemed to understand the situation more.

We always participate in "Toys for Tots" and various canned food drives.

Since I teach in a high school, various organizations at the school are always doing different things that my boys and I help with - collecting cans, donating coats or blankets, sending shoeboxes with gifts in them to soldiers, etc.

My step-father is in an assisted living facility, so we also make a point of spending time not just with him, but with all of the people there, especially this time of year when so many people feel lonely.

Have fun with your children giving back this holiday season! :)

Update at end:

I am doing the same for our early elementary kids. They should be here for Christmas and I have found a church that feeds the homeless. They said it is fine for me to bring them and they can help pass out plates, put ice in cups, etc. I'm really happy about it because I have dealt with that population before and I'm happy the organizers are willing to let the kids participate.

Another thing I saw, is Walmart has a tree where you pick a child off the tree and it states their gender and age. You can buy them presents and donate there at Walmart. Another mom I know did this and took her kids to help pick out gifts. If you choose this, take a few pics of them and then talk about the child on Christmas morning and the gifts you bought for them.

Check with nursey homes too. Have your kids make some crafts / cards and pass out at your local nursing home.

How wonderful of you to start this tradition with your children. I work with Hope's Door, a battered womens shelter in Plano. There are still many children on the Christmas wish list this year who have yet to be "adopted." many of these children will be spending Christmas in the shelter, away from their home and routine and possessions. The Hope's Door website has the current list of children (and even a few mothers) with their age, gender, and one or two needs/wants. Merry Christmas to you and your family.

We have an operation santa at my work where my department 'adopts' a family of a person who works for my company. The family must meet criteria to be considered needing this charity.

My son is soon 3 1/2 so I this year I had him help me pick a gift for the one little girl in the one family. He helped me wrap it and I explained it was going to work with me for a little girl whose parents don't have enough money to buy her gifts. He kept asking the girl's name and what she looked like which I didn't know since it is confidential but I think he grasped the idea of generosity.

With my kids, I have them buy a gift that they would like to receive for Christmas and then donate the gift to a toys for tots or some other charity. My kids know that not every kid is able to receive gifts for Christmas and this is there way of making another kids Christmas special.

I always like doing the Angel Tree or a private donation situation a woman nearby sets up for a preschool with a lot of underprivileged kids. Toys for Tots is great too. All of those things ring true with my 3 and 5 year olds because they "get" the desire for toys and it's exciting for them to help pick some for a child who isn't as lucky as they are.

Every year we do the Operation Christmas Child where we fill a shoebox with gifts. I think the deadline has passed for this year but something to keep in mind next year.
http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/OCC/

excerpt from my blog (names changed. ZZ = my son)

This fall, our Good Deeds included:

Angel Tree - I always adopt someone the same age and gender as XX in order to make it more 'real' to XX . This year, Oscar is being treated to some new clothes and toys, including his very own Beyblade. Everything was carefully and thoughtfully picked out by XX .

Thanksgiving outreach - For the 2nd year in a row, XX and I participated in our church's Thanksgiving outreach program. Last year, we colored cards for the food baskets. I knew XX would enjoy being more active and more involved, so this year we sorted food. About half-way through, he helped tear off bags for the various tables and received several compliments from the adults he worked with.

Christmas cards - XX's cub scout den is decorating Christmas cards for a local nursing home and will deliver them and sing some carols. XX took great care in decorating his cards and made sure his Christmas tree had just the right number of ornaments drawn on it. I'll report back with an update and video after this event, which is sure to be entertaining for all involved.

Toys for Tots - Along with the Angel Tree, XX and YY picked out a few toys for the Toys for Tots program. Hopefully they will make that a new tradition.

Food Drive - The Children's Ministry at ZZ's church did a Food Drive for a Carrollton Food Panty, so I grabbed a grocery list and XX and I went grocery shopping. I think it was a bit shocking for XX to learn that people in his own city go hungry and rely on others to help them through rough times. XX has never attended ZZ's church but really enjoyed picking out food for our bag.

There are so many amazing things that you can do! I have seen a number of HuffingtonPost articles and all over the internet really about charities that you can donate too places to volunteer at gifts you can buy that proceeds go to charities! I came across this list of really awesome places in SF to volunteer (completely irrelevant to you but it'd be awesome if people made more lists like this for each of their regions). I am going to share it because there are some general places to donate online but it may also give you an idea of what to look for in your area: http://www.skinnyscoop.com/list/Erin/how-to-teach-the-gif...

Checking out this site I came across a bunch of fun lists but there was also this one of gifts that give back > http://www.skinnyscoop.com/list/jtlee/gifts-that-give-back3

Hope this helps :) I love that you are looking to start a tradition of giving with your children! Wish more people would think in this way!

Every year, I go through the kids' closets a few weeks before Christmas to clear them out of any toys/clothes that they don't use anymore to make room for the new stuff. We then find a family or someone in need to donate that stuff to. This year, I found a single mother of 3 on craigslist looking for kid items. I happen to have kid items and will be dropping them off to her tomorrow.