Kindness is good for the soul and Christmastime seems to find people doing it harder than usual. While it’s important for children to be kind year-round, Christmastime often provides families with several ways to give back to the community and get the kids involved in making someone’s Christmas just a little bit better.
After all, not everyone will be having a perfect Christmas this year and it’s important for our children to understand and empathise with those less fortunate. Being able to empathise will make them better kids, better friends, and better people.
5 ways to give back
The following ideas are easy to accomplish, take a small amount of effort but have a lasting impact on other people. You never know what someone’s story is or what battles they might be fighting, and you never know if you might be in their metaphorical shoes one day.
Karma is circular and what you give, you eventually get back. These ideas aren’t limited to Christmas. Many can be done year-round.
1. Help feed people
But there are also many who run soup kitchens around the holidays, and these are perfect for taking some time out of your busy day to help feed people who might not have anywhere to go on Christmas, or throughout the year.
To find out, just call your local Salvation Army or Smith Family for information. If no one in your town is running one, you could volunteer to run one yourself. You’d be surprised how many locally owned bakeries, butchers, and farmer’s markets would be keen to donate to a worthy cause.
2. Make ‘Blessing Bags’
These are such an amazing gift. Bunnings accepts bags for vulnerable women and girls for Share the Dignity from November 10 to 26. You take a handbag and fill it with essentials like menstrual pads and sanitary bags, deodorant, toothpaste and brush, hair brush and hair ties etc and they are collected and donated to vulnerable people.
Operation Christmas Child by Samaritan’s Purse sends shoe boxes of toys to kids in underprivileged countries.
Kmart has their Wishing Tree appeal each year and it’s so easy to call your local stores to see what they’re doing. Also, check your local library that might do a canned food drive or an exchange food for money off owed fees program around Christmas time.
If you live somewhere with a large homeless population, it’s easy to make up some blessing bags with non-perishable snacks, hygiene items, and bottles of water or a hot meal and hand them out as you see people on the street. Contact local religious organisations who are known to do work like this and join up with them.
3. Volunteer
Volunteer your family to spend a few hours reading books to kids in hospital or spend some time with elderly people in hospitals or aged care facilities or helping people with physical or mental limitations.
You could contact a gaol nearby and see if they have a program helping kids who have inmate parents. You could call your local school and volunteer to read to a class or help out kids who need homework assistance. You could check with your local council to see if there are any food drives or Christmas gift-wrapping events organised in your area.
Whatever your passion is, there could be a volunteer option, or opportunity to create a volunteer program.
4. Declutter and help out a family
Have a look through local community pages on social media and you might find an opportunity to donate some unwanted or unneeded furniture, kitchenware, beds, or clothing etc to a family escaping domestic violence or going through a rough time.
Sometimes admins post asking for volunteers to do a big batch cook to help an elderly person or a family in need of meals. They can also inspire you to look or create your own opportunities.
You could also donate used books to shelters/refuges, hospitals, doctors’ offices, schools or public free libraries. Unwanted toys in good condition can also be donated to other kids, or hospitals and libraries etc.
5. Invest in education
School teachers are worth more than their weight in gold, like rhodium (the most expensive metal on the planet) and it’s no secret they don’t get paid enough. But did you know close to 85% of education staff stock classrooms out of their own pocket?
If your kids are at school, or you really value the great effort made by teachers, consider donating some school supplies to them. Clever Patch, Officeworks, and other online stores enable you to buy items in bulk that you can donate to a school if you are in a financial position to do so.
If you can’t donate with money, you can donate your time by joining a P&C.
The best way to teach kids to be generous and giving is to model the behaviour. These examples are few, but the only thing stopping you is your imagination. To give kids a sense of ownership over their philanthropy, present them with a few doable choices and let them choose.
Be sure to also check out our 50 Simple Acts of Kindness for Kids to Do for more ideas.
