children and charity

Our kids are making fleece scarves for the homeless...we'll take them to the shelter with some of those magic gloves that are 2/$1 at wal-mart.

It's very easy, with any length of fleece, cut six inches, making sure the selvages (bound ends) are at the end. Then just cut those in 1/2 strips to make a fringe. They're very warm, durable and easy to do.

We're also making baskets for the teen program in our city, a laundry basket with new toiletries, cleaning supplies and kitchen wares. Unfortunately there are many teens in our city who are living independently due to bad circumstances at home. The kids LOVE to pick out soaps, shampoos and towels, and I like buying green cleaners for the new generation of independent living.

Do you have a local Ronald McDonald House? Zeb has been donating time there for over a year with his Gramma. They pack lunches for the families that sit with the kids in the hospital. Our local RMH welcomes kids as volunteers.

Something we used to do as kids: We'd find a family in need, get a box, fill it with a turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, etc (anything needed for a dinner), include a couple of presents for the family (board games, etc), drop the box box and presents on the doorstep and play ding dong ditch til they opened the door (the only time we wouldn't getting introuble for ding-dong-ditch!).

After Thanksgiving and Xmas dinner, we make plates out of the leftovers and drive them downtime, offering them to any homeless. Our city recently made this illegal : not that it would stop us.

We tend to give anonymously, so it doesn't become something we do for recognition. Plus it's less embarassing for people to receive anonymously.

Quote:
heifer is a wonderful organization. You are basically helping to provide opportunities to those who lack them. I don't know if they have things specifically geared toward kids. The way I understand them, you send the money for them to buy livestock, fiber-producing animals, or the like so that they may have a sustainable source of income. I love the idea behind it!

Can't wait to hear what they tell you.

Some things we are doing:

volunteering at the seniors home to decorate. We'll bring cookies and small decoration gifts for the residents (orange cloves, waldorf stars and other simple decorations to give out).

We have a hs group craft fair and we are donating the money we raised to 2 charities Kiva and one related to diabetes in honour of my daughter.

We are making mittens and hats out of my stash of fleece and felted sweaters to decorate the tree at the church we go to. They get donated to the local school which has a some what high needs population.

Our co-op group is going to sponsor a family I think - if we can get our act together.

We save birthday gifts that aren't our style or are duplicates and donate them to the toy drive. (it's actually scary how much this generates).

I am trying to find a way to connect with people who need help who might fall outside of other services. We go to the UU church and a woman has an informal network of people who she knows who can often use a bit of food or a bit of help at the end of the month. This hasn't taken shape yet. In our city kids can't volunteer directly at the drop in center and so I am hoping to find ways for our family to connect beyond just dropping off food. While that is a wonderful gesture I think it sets up a situation where we focus on the problem rather than helping the people. Hopefully that's clear - kids apparently need some attention

well the kind woman at heifer.org pointed out something i should have seen on the website myself. :

http://www.heifer.org/site/c.edJRKQNiFiG/b.3813431/

i'm sure i can find something on here to adapt to our family. i ordered a free leader's guide too.