Feeling Charitable

zazu13

What do you usually do at Christmastime to be charitable? Toys for Tots? Donate to Goodwill to make room for the new stuff? Sub4Santa? Serve at the homeless shelter? Do you have any family traditions or ways to involve your kids?

I have always participated in Sub 4 Santa through my church and work, but being absent from both most of this year I am just starting to think about it. I always feel more in the Christmas spirit when I give. I also want to start traditions to involve the girls when they grow up. Feel free to share ideas and heartwarming stories

Twirple

We donate to Toys for Tots.  We specifically purchase fishing gear (rod, reel, line, tackle box and tackle) for older boys.  This is our fifth year doing it, so it's a fairly new tradition.  This year we spoke to one of the managers at Cabelas and he is giving us a great discount, so we'll be getting 12 complete setups.  We do this with my dad and stepmom, my brother and his girlfriend and my family.  We're going on the 16th to buy them, then going up to my Dad's house for pizza and to assemble everything.

With my brother's work schedule, he has Tuesday morning's off, so he has been volunteering at the Food Bank almost every Tuesday for the past year.  He was interviewed last week by the local news.

Shelbysteffens

We do toys for tots for sure every year, I try to do the angel tree but this year it's not do able. I also try to be charitable year round, not just near Christmas.

momofmanyinthemitten

We take a couple tags from the tree at our church, as well as one or two from DH's hospital's giving tree. We make donations to local organizations and families in our town throughout the year as well (ie historical society, center for the performing arts, family building a wheelchair friendly addition for their son with disabilities).

chichi589

I do the angel tree at work at Christmas. I also get money taken out of my check all year that goes to a local kids camp for children with autism that my brother attended when he was younger. Every year before Christmas growing up we would donate our old toys/stuffed animals and I plan to do the same with my kids when they are old enough. This year I donated to our local park which does free Santa for kids 3 times a week for the month of December and it's all volunteer based.

hlm184

Usually we do Toys for Tots, but this year we've been consumed with purging and donating a lot of stuff to the salvation army in preparation for the move.

Once DS is a little older, I want to do a lot more.  I've been toying with doing something I heard from someone here, an elf, but instead of spying he brings tasks, everything from baking cookies to donating toys to volunteering somewhere.

UnofficiallyLO

When I worked, we always adopted families to purchase gifts for thru the company and I would buy one child's wish list. This year I am going to purchase and donate shoes to a local program that provides them to kids in school anonymously when their teachers notice they are in need. I think we will rotate charities each year and be sure to include DS when he is older.

*sparky*

We do a lot, on our own and through my son's school (Catholic).

We pull a few angels off of the angel tree at church and buy gifts for them.  We also help deliver the gifts the Sunday before Christmas.

We buy gifts for the kids at the pediatric hospital my son spent a few days in when he was four.

We donate to the local food bank.

Through my son's school this year we are helping to make scarves for needy families and also collecting items for the local shelter.

zazu13

Twirple said:

We donate to Toys for Tots.  We specifically purchase fishing gear (rod, reel, line, tackle box and tackle) for older boys.  This is our fifth year doing it, so it's a fairly new tradition.  This year we spoke to one of the managers at Cabelas and he is giving us a great discount, so we'll be getting 12 complete setups.  We do this with my dad and stepmom, my brother and his girlfriend and my family.  We're going on the 16th to buy them, then going up to my Dad's house for pizza and to assemble everything.

With my brother's work schedule, he has Tuesday morning's off, so he has been volunteering at the Food Bank almost every Tuesday for the past year.  He was interviewed last week by the local news.

Such a great idea. I think older kids are harder to buy for and more likely to go without.

bacorrea

We do Operation Christmas Child! We also sponsor a child through Holt International all year. My MIL was adopted through Holt International, so we picked them out of all the sponsor a kid organizations. It's really cool!

Keckers

We also fill shoeboxes through Operation Christmas Child. My BIL's family has a charity that puts on a huge Christmas party for kids and families in our city. This year they were able to fulfill the wish lists of 130 kids! We hope to be involved in it this year and in the years to come.

Talltrees82

I'm putting together a "gift bag" for our local humane society- blankets, laundry detergent, paper towels, etc. Their website has a list of basic supplies that they need. We were really active volunteering with them until LO came along.

Throughout the year we donate to the children's hospital, the humane society, and a fund that gives school supplies to local kids in need.

The local toy store did Santa photos for a donation to their toy drive and we participated in that.

I really like the angel tree concept and would love to do that next year.