Get in the giving spirit

Teach your children the joys of caring and show them the true meaning of the season.

By Toby Leah Bochan

This year, create a new holiday tradition with your family — get involved in a charitable activity. It's an ideal way to teach your child values such as generosity, compassion, and gratitude and prevent her from coming down with an annual case of "the gimmes." The months of November and December are a great time to get involved, as there are a plethora of opportunities to suit your family's interests and availability. It's also a chance to try out several different types of activities and find one your family can get involved in all year round.

When selecting an activity, consider your child's interests, and let her help choose so she feels that it's something she wants to do instead of has to do. Spend some time brainstorming together: Outdoors or indoors? Working with people or animals? Is your child a good singer or dancer? Also consider her physical ability, sensitivity, and attention span — shoveling snow for an elderly neighbor is great for an older child, but perhaps not the best idea for your 6 year old. We've got a number of ideas to get you started, but to find more options and specific opportunities in your neighborhood, visit volunteermatch.org.


1. Host a Coat or Food Party

Drumming up donations is a great way to start a tradition that not only helps your community but also strengthens bonds within it. It's great to give some canned goods or your family's old coats to a charity, but making it a party takes it up a notch. For a coat party, have guests bring coats that are used but still in good condition. Put younger kids to work cleaning out pockets and using masking tape to mark areas that need to be mended or buttons that are missing. Monitor and help older kids sew buttons and do simple mending. Other kids can decide which coats might need dry cleaning and which are ready to go and separate them into piles. It'll be a celebration sure to give everyone a warm feeling. If you want to have a food party, ask for canned and dried food and have kids help pack it up for food banks and shelters. You can also host toy or book parties!

2. Sing and Dance for Joy

If your child is the type to surprise you with impromptu puppet shows or sings from dawn to dusk, consider harnessing that energy to put on a play (or other performance) at a nursing home or community center. Involve everyone in the family in making costumes and sets and recruit other families and friends to play parts. If your family isn't up to the responsibility of being the sole form of entertainment, consider becoming part of the festivities at a community center holiday party by putting on a skit or a few musical numbers. This is also a good option if your family can't agree on a single performance piece and everyone wants to put on their own show. Another option is to go caroling not only around the neighborhood but also within the halls of a hospital or nursing home.

3. Help Furry Friends

For animal lovers, helping out at a pet shelter is an easy choice. Donate a few days or just an afternoon to give the regular staff a break and fill in for vacationers. Even during the holidays, dogs need to be walked, cats need petting, and all animals need to be played with, fed, and have their cages cleaned. If you have young or sensitive children, a no-kill shelter is a good option (especially if you don't want to come home with a new pet!). You can also help out an animal shelter by collecting always-needed supplies such as cat litter, pet food of every variety, dog leashes, animal carriers, collars, and household goods such as paper towels and garbage bags.

4. Serve a Senior Citizen

If your child is unable to spend time with his grandparents this season, consider reaching out to an elderly person. The winter and holiday months are often the hardest on the elderly and a little help will be much appreciated. Help your child connect with past generations by visiting with seniors in a retirement community or nursing home. Your child can give manicures or makeovers, deck the halls with boughs of holly jolly décor, help wrap gifts, or read to the hard-of-sight. Or bond with older neighbors by arranging to have your child help with their shopping or bringing them along for trips to the mall. Your child can also shovel the snow off a senior citizen's walkway through the winter as a holiday gift.

5. Feed the Needy

The most familiar way to volunteer is still a perfect one: Help out at soup kitchen or food bank. The holidays are the busiest time at shelters and they need help setting up, serving, and cleaning up. If your older child is interested in cooking, he can don an apron and help prepare food in the kitchen. Not interested in food but want to help the hungry? Consider sorting the donated goods or helping with office tasks like answering the phone.


6. Give While Spending

Even the busiest families can make a difference by deciding to spend their holiday (and regular) dollars in a way that benefits others. Sit down together in front of the computer and join iGive, a free service that donates a portion of every purchase you make at hundreds of popular online stores to a charity of your choice. Another option is to visit a real or virtual charity auction (there's a whole section devoted to this on eBay) with your child to complete your holiday shopping. Or let your child help you pick out holiday cards that benefit a charity such as the ones from Unicef or charitycards.com and send goodwill to all your loved ones.