Donating At Christmas

Christmas is a time for giving. In the UK we have a charity called 'Crisis for Christmas' in London where for a week they have shelters for all the homeless with clinics for dentists, doctors, career advice, a new clothes bank and a place for all animals to be housed and fed too. I worked one year there and would do it again if I was able. Many people do volunteer, but people need to remember it's not only Christmas, but all year around.The great thing is all companies donate food, buildings and professionals their services.

Orphanages, children's homes, senior homes and hospitals are all places that need volunteers and hopefully local people will help to make their Christmas a merry one.

 

I do what I can, but I don't have much to give. We don't strive for more (money and things) so we don't have beyond what we feel we need. So I'll buy food for the food bank or warm outdoor clothing for programs that are collecting them for children in need, but I don't really have anything I could give of my own unless I'm ok to replace them lol. And I absolutely won't give money. I don't even know who to trust anymore.

 

If I had more to give, this is something I'd like to do more frequently. I try my best to think about the needy around Christmas time or whenever I come across charity donation boxes or commercials that serve as a reminder to me. I have some clothes here that are in particularly good condition that I don't wear anymore and I plan to give some of them to the nearest places accepting donations before Christmas comes.

 

We tithe to our church every time we get a pay check, year round, and this encompasses the largest part of our budget in a single transaction every month. I consider it "charitable giving" because our church uses so much of the money to send to missionaries and what not. Other than that, I think the biggest change I make during the holiday season is currently putting change in the Salvation Army bell ringer buckets. My kids live for this, so we always try to have some change when we are going to a store where a bell ringer is out front.

My oldest child is currently 7 and I keep thinking I want to get into a ministry with my kids that would show them how to be less selfish during the holidays - something like stocking shelves at the food pantry or crisis pregnancy center.

 

I usually put my money to Meals On Wheels. I used to work for them, and I don't have the heart to tell you some of the sad stories. For some seniors who are homebound, it is often their only meal of the day, and the volunteer who comes to drop off the meal is the only human contact they have most of the time. It is especially important to donate during the holidays because they put together special holiday packages for them to eat during the holidays while the volunteers and staff are on vacation. Without these packages, many of them would starve.

 

Very good!!!

 

I give what I can year round but near the holidays I like to volunteer at the local soup kitchen or the homeless shelter in my neighborhood. I know most of the people there, if not by name just from seeing them often in the community and I like helping serve the meals and socializing in an atmosphere where no one feels as if they are on a lower level than anyone else. That may sound odd but you have to experience it to understand it I suppose.

 

You always know it's Christmas time when you see the Salvation Army bell ringers out; and they are the only ones I give to on a regular basis. All the information that I have read indicates that what they collect really does go where they say it goes. But that's just my Christmas giving. I'll give to men (or women) in uniform whenever and wherever I find them, so long as I'm pretty certain that they are for real. Sad to say that there are people out there who would impersonate some of our military personnel just to get your money for themselves.

 

Let's just face it and be honest with ourselves here. The only time where we actually care that much about strangers is when the holidays roll around. I know that it shouldn't be like that and yeah you feel bad for being like that. Though, we all know that if you are in the line at a store and someone forgets their $100. That you won't spring forward and say that you will go ahead and pay for their groceries. The simple fact is that the holiday times is when people get caught up in this feel good notion of human nature. It's a time of the year that should be year long but most can only appreciate during those times. It is a sad state of affairs but it is something that most people live.

 

I donate whatever I can to an orphanage that's nearby all year round. Of course Christmas is the best time to give but I'd rather not wait that long because my dream when I was younger was to do much for orphans. I failed to achieve my lofty goal so having failed I MUST help in any way I can and whenever I can, not just at Christmas time.

 

Not True, I give all year long and I have given my last at times to those who I felt needed it more than I did at the time. I know exactly what it feels like to have nothing. I have been without a home, I have been without food, I have been without shoes..but I have never been without hope and when you know exactly how it feels to have nothing but hope, you remember those who were kind, at least I do and I have and will always pay that forward to the best of my ability. I would like to think that there are others, many others who give and have compassion and empathy for others year round and not only at the holiday season.

 

I always try to donate when I can, it just seems like the holidays is when it lays on my heart the most to do it. I am not wealthy by any means. There are things that my family needs that we cannot afford - but I know in my heart that there are people who have far less than me - whose life would be made easier if they had even a portion of what I do. Donating is the best way to pay forward your blessings - you never know when you may be in need of the kindness of others.