{"id":58317,"date":"2015-12-17T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-12-17T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xenodochial-archimedes.45-76-20-142.plesk.page\/2015x112x1giving-back-this-season-2\/"},"modified":"2022-11-29T18:24:31","modified_gmt":"2022-11-29T18:24:31","slug":"giving-back-this-season-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mrsbishop.com\/2015\/12\/giving-back-this-season-2.html","title":{"rendered":"Giving Back"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This busy time of year is so filled with activities, parties, and so many fun things to do with our families. But, in all of the hustle and bustle, hassles and stress, I like to remember what the season is all about. To\u00a0remember to give back to those who may not enjoy this season as much. Today, I\u2019d like to share with you some of my favorite ways to give back this season. Things that won\u2019t break the bank, but will remind us to give this season, not just to receive.<\/p>\n

Volunteer at your local Food bank. Donate your time and some food. The Holiday season is most likely the busiest time at these places. It\u2019s cold and they run low on most food items. They need volunteers all year, but especially during the Holidays. You can volunteer by yourself, or even better, as a family. I think one of the greatest ways to give our children perspective, is to show them that there are others less fortunate than us.<\/p>\n

Go through your clothes and toys- have your littles do the same (age appropriately, of course). Back during Thanksgiving, I explained to my 3 year old that some kids didn\u2019t have as many toys as us, and that with Christmas coming, maybe we should go through our toys and share some of them with friends. We went through a lot of his toys, and I was pleasantly surprised at how many he decided to get rid of. I kept explaining that by sharing them, we wouldn\u2019t have them anymore. And he totally understood! He kept going through and saying, \u201cBye bye- share with friends.\u201d His share pile was much bigger than I ever expected. We were able to get rid of a lot of toys to share, and helped de-clutter our home in the process\u2026win-win!<\/p>\n

I came across this website: Donation Town<\/a><\/strong><\/span> that helps you find cities in your area\u00a0that accept donations. Or contact your local Toys for Tots, Goodwill, or Salvation Army.<\/h4>\n

Speaking of the Salvation Army<\/a>, before we had a toddler, we used to volunteer every year as bell-ringers. This is another simple thing you can do as a family, that just takes a few hours, but teaches your kiddos about giving back. We will definitely do it again once our little man is older. There\u2019s just something about smiling and wishing others a Merry Christmas that really spreads the Christmas cheer. And you\u2019re helping raise money for a great organization.<\/p>\n

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Operation Christmas Child<\/a> through Samaritan\u2019s Purse is another program that we participate in each year through our home church. You fill a shoebox with various items: small toys, socks, toiletries, etc; and it goes to a family in need in countries all over the world. It\u2019s fun to let your kids help pick out the gifts and helps them to connect to whomever you\u2019re sending your box to. You can even include a letter, and get a pen pal out of the deal. Someone your family can connect with across the world.<\/p>\n

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Amazon Smile<\/a> is a great option if you just don\u2019t have time to donate, but want to give a little back. Every purchase you make on Amazon, if you use Amazon smile instead (which is the exact same site), gives a percentage back to a charity of your choice. There are a ton to choose from. When I shop on Amazon Smile, I support\u00a0Cranio Care Bears\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0because as a Momma of a Cranio Kid, it\u2019s near and dear to my heart. But, you can choose whatever charity you would like to support. A small way to give back, but every little bit counts.<\/p>\n

Random acts of Kindness are one of my favorite ways to spread the Christmas spirit. Bake a neighbor some cookies. Pay for the person behind you in line. Send flowers to a friend. Whatever you do, do it anonymously and spread a little love this season.<\/p>\n

Visit a local nursing home. We used to go caroling at the nursing homes in the surrounding area, but visiting is just fine. This time of year, people really miss their families. Just sit and talk with the residents. Listen to their stories. Maybe take small gifts. They SO enjoy it, and you will enjoy it too. I\u2019ve heard wonderful and amazing stories from these men and women. It\u2019s so very heartwarming to see them light up when you take a little time to visit with them.<\/p>\n

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There are lots of other ways to give back this season, ask your church or local missions where there\u2019s a need and fill accordingly. What are ways you like to give back?<\/p>\n

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A list of ways to give back this Holiday Season. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":59606,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-holidays","category-thoughts","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mrsbishop.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mrsbishop.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mrsbishop.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrsbishop.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrsbishop.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58317"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mrsbishop.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58317\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrsbishop.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mrsbishop.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrsbishop.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrsbishop.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}