The October release has been full of some gorgeous new products and we hope the projects from the team have been beyond inspiring! I've picked out favorites of my own, from each of the design team members, to share with you today! Click the link next to each team member's name to see more details about the project shown here, as well as the rest of her projects from this release! And be sure to read all the way to the bottom of the post…..you won't want to miss out on this month's release in review CONTEST!!!
CLICK HERE to see more from Ashley Cannon Newell.
CLICK HERE to see more from Betsy Veldman.
CLICK HERE to see more from Cristina Kowalczyk.
CLICK HERE to see more from Danielle Flanders.
CLICK HERE to see more from Dawn McVey.
CLICK HERE to see more from Debbie Olson.
CLICK HERE to see more from Erin Lincoln.
CLICK HERE to see more from Heather Nichols.
CLICK HERE to see more from Jessica Witty.
CLICK HERE to see more from Maile Belles.
CLICK HERE to see more from Melissa Phillips.
Now that you have had a chance to see all of this eye candy, how about a chance to win a gift certificate to purchase some of the amazing goodies used to make them!
$150 PTI Gift Certificate
for you to spend however you choose!
All you have to do to enter to win is to leave a comment answering the question below…
Congratulations, Heather! Please be sure to contact Customer Service and provide the email address you would like your gift certificate sent to! And thank you to everyone who joined us tonight! We appreciate seeing you here!
Loving these new stamps!! I’m in the middle of making cards and tags for my donation to the area Altrusa christmas celebration.
As I am about to teach a block of global citizenship to my class, instead of giving them a tiny gift each for Christmas, I am going to make a donation to a charity of their choice. I am hoping that the discussion, thinking and research that will go into them making aan informed choice will last them for the rest of their lives.
However, this was a really great, thought-provoking question for me personally….
My charitable act for the season is the same as the one I do all year long….I volunteer in my local public schools. There can never be too much help for children; I volunteer in the classroom, tutor small groups, and do whatever needs to be done for teachers and staff. I love all of these release samples; can’t wait for tonight!
Every year our neighborhood adopts a shelter of homeless children (usually 8-15 kids with ages ranging from toddler – 17). Watching these kids – who are homeless due to abuse, parents who are in prison, or other circumstances that are beyond their control – receive gifts from strangers who genuinely care that they have a wonderful Christmas has got to be the most touching and heart breaking things I have ever witnessed. The lady who coordinates the whole thing is amazing and I am honored to be a part of it.
At work, we have several activities to provide support during the holiday season. First, there is always the Thanksgiving dinner where we provide donations of food. Then there is my favorite which is the Angel Tree except ours is on a wall. Not only are there names and wishes for children but also for families as well as seniors who are in nursing homes. I always select multiple tags to be able to provide some happiness during the holidays.
A friend is going through a divorce (as am I)and has no family to celebrate the holidays with. Her ex-husbands family was the only family she had, so I am invitng her over for Christmas.
Most every year I buy a gift (toy) for a child that is not as fortunate as my children were when they were little. One year I had a garage sale and a women and her daughter came that I somewhat knew. The little girl wanted a new porcelain doll that my daughter was selling, still in box, never used). Her mom said no that she couldn’t get it right now (not enough money). I called her next day and said we would like to give it to her from Santa and that’s what we did. It felt good to be able to make a little girl happy on Xmas morning. So again this year I will find someone who needs help.
What a lovely question. I am humbled and inspired by the answers I have already read. I will continue to read the answers throughout the day. I have a box of 40 cards ready to send to Operation Write Home. The holiday cards include cards made with Holiday Tree, Heather’s set that I continue to love.
I’ll be part of a team cooking at a Christmas meal for the 40+ elderly people who come to our church’s lunch club.
My kids and I always choose a card each from the ‘Giving Tree’ where you buy a gift for a child who is less fortunate and perhaps won’t receive many gifts this Christmas. It’s good to remind ourselves that it’s better to give than to receive and we get a lot of pleasure over picking the perfect gift for these kids.
For starters my Michaels donates handmade cards to the Canadian and American troops, so my friends and I always get together and make cards for them. So far we have made over 200 cards and plan on making more. Our goal this year is 500. My family and I also donate to a children’s shelter in our town. We donate presents for the kids and we take ornaments for their Christmas tree.
Thank you for this great release!!!!
This Christmas I will be making cards to sell at work to raise funds for children in Britain who don’t get presents at Christmas. So fingers crossed I will get lots of cards sold to try and brighten up lots of children’s Christmas. Lesley
The perfect question to get us planning! I’ll be working with a local outreach program that arranges holiday meals for the under-privileged, and making sure my kids participate, too.
I help with the food bank at the nearby church during the holidays and through the year. Everyone needs food.
The kids and I do a big de-clutter in the Christmas break, going through their wardrobes and toys, we gather the outgrown ones to give to charity.
ps some awesome stamps & dies coming out! I can’t wait to put in my Christmas order with some friends soon!
Leah
Along with our church, we participate in Operation Christmas Child and prepare shoe boxes with gifts packed inside for children in need.
As one of our family countdown to Christmas activities we shop for and donate toys to toys for Tots.
We have a giving tree set up our church every year. It is filled with ornaments colored by children of our parish school. On the back an item is listed to purchase and donate to those in need. Each of my children get to pick an ornament and we bring the items back and lay them under the tree.
This holiday season, I will be joining some folks in my office to prepare meals for the needy as part of our United Way campaign.
I am working with my Year 8 class to cook meals for the homeless in our local area. The meals are then distributed by another group that run a food van. These fabulous people feed the homeless all year round.
Every year we “Adopt a Family” at work and fill a the family’s Christmas wish list. Also, our church has an “Angel Tree” where your able to pick an ornament from the tree with a gift to buy for a child. These activities have always meant more because they are the true meaning of Christmas.
Same as all year ’round, we visit nursing homes, assisted living, group homes, etc. with a local therapy dog group.
Also, my workplace collects donations to support local families in need.
This year we are going camping at Walt Disney World Campground (Fort Wilderness) The most amazing campground in the world! So we miss a lot of the collections through our church so we usually donate a larger sum to Food For the Poor. It is an amazing organization and supported by our church. We also take in food every week for our food pantry. Thanks so much for another great release.
My daughter and I are making Christmas cards for the local senior home.
And, I’m finally going through my unused crafting supplies and donating them! Hoping these supplies can be better put to use!
I visit the angel tree at our local mall to pick out a toy for a girl and a boy…and we buy for a village in a third world city at work.
Thanks for a chance to win. My charitable act – helping my Mum with the washing up on Christmas Day!
We choose a charity to donate some money to and de- clutter outgrown clothes and toys for the charity shop. When my kids are older I’d like to help with a Christmas dinner for the homeless that our town runs.
Our church has a giving tree that is set up after Thanksgiving and I always take several tags to fill the needs of those less fortunate than me. I am always so touched when the recipient is asking for basics for their youngsters….but I do know that they also will receive toys from other sources. I can’t help tucking in a new pack of crayons and a pack of paper with the clothing…must have something to do with my love of crafting!
Our church has an advent tree where we choose names of families in need. Each of us will pick a person our age to help them have a wonderful Christmas.
A couple years ago my side of the family decided to do away with the name draw for gifts and every family donated the money they would of spent to go toward purchasing gifts for a family in need. Our church gets names of famillies that are in need and I am always surprised at the simple things they put on their wish lists. Things that we take for granted in our house, like new crayons or a simple baby doll. We know that we have made a holiday better for someone that needed a hand.
Every year we adopt a family from a neighboring parish to buy Christmas gifts for. My daughter gets so into picking out the presents and it helps her to appreciate just how lucky we are.
Here in Tasmania there is a charity called the Giving Tree.People from all walks of life walk from the north of the state to the south raising money as they go to help make Christmas a happier time for those in need.We always go to a night of fun and laughter that raises about $5,000.Not too bad for a town whose population is about 1,000 people…thats counting adults and children.
Its times like this that make me so grateful for what I have.
I make monthly donation to MSF, will keep doing it
Totally love the question! I want to sponsor a child in one of the war torn countries.
Our community collects for a program called bikes for kids. They give kids who were not going to have anything under the tree or very little, a brand new bike. We are donating to the cause this year.
Actually, I don’t just plan to do it this upcoming Holiday Season, I’ve done it for many years so far and it doesn’t seem like much. We have a Toy Drive, as likely many communities do, for those in need, and it’s always easy to donate something for young children & toddlers as they are so easy to please. However, Teens & Tweens get forgotten alot, so I put together 4 “Teen” packs of skin care, nail polish, light make-up and toiletries for this age group to enjoy – 4 packs geared for girls, 4 geared for boys.
Another amazing release as usual, PTI Team!
We pick up a few Angel trees and get toys for less
fortunate children and we also send shoe boxes to orphans in Bolivia
We always do adopt a family and then it is a great time to talk about goving to other who have greater needs. The kids always have to donate toys.
My children and I spend a weekend in December sorting through donated toys at a local church and wrapping them for needy children in our community. My children love shopping for the children and gathering at the church with others to make someone else’s holiday a brighter one.
I’m giving away all my clothes and accessories that I didn’t touch for a whole year .. old or new .. two suitcases full .. it’s all going 🙂
During the Holiday season everybody tends to not think about the pet shelters and what they need to keep the animals alive. I have a drive for the local animal shelters every year so they can take care of the animals they have in there and make sure they have what they need.
I’m making cards and wreaths to be sold to benefit my daughter’s preschool. We’re also putting together boxes for Operation Christmas Child.
Donate cards. donate toys. donate money 🙂
At work we choose a needy family from our patients from the past year (I work in a satelite unit of a pediatric hospital- we have a small inpatient unit, max of 12 beds at a time.) We buys gifts for everyone in the family. I also just give spontaneously when I see a need.
My daughter and I are going shopping for Christmas gifts for children who are living in shelters. This brings us joy, and is one of the small things we can do to make a positive difference.
I really enjoy “paying it forward”….when I am in line purchasing something, I like to pay for the person behind me….or in front of me….whichever is easiest! It’s always such fun – for me and for them!
We’ve already done our charitable act. Our private school has a Harvest sale every year where we share and donate.
I volunteer in my daughters class 16 to 21hours a week. all year doing art projects with the kids. our school district lost art so i make sure these kids get some kind of art. it gets expensive with 22 kids. so their teacher and I can only do it once every three weeks. They all got to stamp with Paper they ink Halloween skeleton and loved it. I always try to buy dies I know the kids will have fun playing with like the pumpkin dies. I am cutting them out of thin foam so the can piece them together. also I do an art projects for my daughters girl scout troop. and they have 10 GIRl scouts now.God love the troop leaders they are not crafty. so i am in charge of that….
This year I will participate in Operation Christmas Child through my church.
We have a giving tree at church where we provide christmas to children living at a group home.
My sisters and I do a yearly food drive for the food shelf in our area. Last year, we collected 235 pounds of food which provided 183 meals for people in our community.
Another inspiring release!
We donate to the foodbank and volunteer at the warehouse. We also contribute to the local turkey drive. Throught the year we donate monthly to the Diabetes Association.
Just as many others, we do the “Giving Tree” at church. My kids are also involved in a service club at school that does “Adopt A Family” so we all participate in that also.
’tis the season and every year we have an “Angel Tree” at work. I always pick a couple of the older children (people seem to want the babies?) that I buy an outfit and “fun” gift for. This year we are also adopting a family at work and I plan on helping with that activity in any way I can.
I am blessed to have all that I need and plan to clean a few more closets to donate under used items to others who don’t have enough. I also will be making more cards for the troops, and visiting the senior tree in my local shops.
We always buy two gifts for the angel tree at our church. Each of my children picks one angel tag and selects a gift for that person.
I always contribute to the Salvation Army, toys for tos campaign and my son’s school always has a special project that we participate in as well
Our family plans to work with the Samaritan Purse ministry of Operation Christmas Child. We collect items all year to fill shoeboxes to send to children around the world in third world countries. We collect
and fill boxes and also work at the processing center over the Thanksgiving vacation.
We’ll be purchasing toys for Toys for Tots and Angel Tree. On Thanksgiving day feed the homeless.
We always fill shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child. I also want to do some random acts of kindness this year as well.
I usually donate to our local TV and Marines that collect “toys for tots”…it’s a big deal here and I love to see how generous the community is with their donations…a wonderful time of the year!!
My family always participates in Toys for Tots. It breaks our hearts to think of children without any presents when we’ve been so blessed. We also participate in the brown bag lunch program which seeks to provide lunches for day laborers in our area. This is run by our church.
This year I will be making our families usual x-mas treats, rum balls, white christmas and rocky road and gift wrapping them for those nearest and dearest. The kids and I will also be choosing a gift for a special little girl or boy whose name will appear hanging from the tree of our local shopping centre’s wishing tree. Our only wish is to see their face when they receive their special gift.
We donate to a local charity that gives new toys to needy children for Christmas and we also choose an angel from our churchs’ angel tree and sponsor a child.
I’ll be contributing to the Christmas baskets our church prepares and delivers to needy families each year.
I make cards for OWH. I’ve already sent in some holiday cards and plan to do a few more before the end of month deadline. What a great question!
My boys and I leave a small gift card to a store like Wally-world laying around somewhere. It’s not much but it is a little thing we like to do. Sometimes we may even do this two or three times (once for each of us).
I make quilts for ‘Quilts for Kids’, which is an organization that distributes quilts to very sick children in hospitals. I also make cards for ‘operation write home’.
Ringing bells at the mall for the Salvation Army!
We are going to adopt a family to bless this holiday season.
It’s a good life!
Terri E.
I always purchase some animals through Heifer International to help improve the lives if those in need. I also pick a girl and boy from our angel tree at work.
My daughter’s sorority will be cooking a meal at our local Ronald McDonald house and I will be joining them.
I will buy items from a wishlist that Teresa House, our local hospice, posts around the holiday season. They do such wonderful work in our community.
I plan on helping serve meals at our local community meal center. I may also donate toward the gifts for the seminary families our church ladies group supports.
There are several activities to provide support during the holiday season for the families in need where I teach. We provide donations of food for Thanksgiving and Christmas meals. As a staff, we also adopt families in need. I always select multiple tags and my family and i go shopping to chose meaningful gifts hoping to provide some happiness during the holidays.
making plates of cookies/candies and taking them to the widows and widowers in our community.
At the request of some family members, we donate to charities of our choice instead of purchasing gifts. We also volunteer for the local Toys for Tots. Thanks for the opportunity to win!
Local businesses adopt families for Christmas. I always donate brand new winter coats and also an item from the children’s list for each child in the family. We take food into our church’s food bank.
While Christmas provides many opportunities to be charitable, we need to remember to help people the other months too!
Our charity is the ASPCA. They get a nice check from us at the Hols!
we always fill baskets of food for the christmas basket programme to help those in need have a traditional christmas dinner. in pondering your question, however, i wonder if we should consider something different too.
i love the new releases at this time of year and absolutely love what the team has done with them. great inspiration here today (and everyday!).
At Thanksgiving we get food to make sure another family has a full meal for a Thanksgiving dinner. At Christmas we do Angel Tree. We buy presents for children whose parents are incarcerated and the parent signs a tag, as if the gift came from “mommy or daddy.”
Every year, our church has an angel tree, and each of us usually picks and angel (or mitten!) off of the tree. Then we all go out and go shopping together for the children on our angels/mittens. I’m so thankful for all we have, and grateful that we can be helpful to others.
As I’ve become overwhelmed with the number of cards that I have accumulated, my charitable act for the season will be to donate them to a local church, which in turn uses them during their work with local senior centers and retirement communities. The older adults love to receive them as prizes during activities and to receive them, too!
Each year we buy gifts for a lower-income family for the holiday season. My kids really love it!
Also, for the past few years I’ve done a project for our PTA where I collect wish lists from the teachers and then post them on snowflakes. Families then come and choose items to buy for their teacher. I was so excited to use the Damask Snowflake dies last year!
At my job, we usually adopt a family every holiday season. We all contribute to buy gifts for the whole family. Once everything is collected, we wrap them and send them to the family.
There are a few things that we always do – support the Adopt-A-Family campaign at my girls’ school, drop off food to the Food Bank and our personal, family tradition of 25 acts of kindness. For each day in December we do something kind for someone. Whether it be coffee for the crossing guard, a gift for a child in need, returning shopping carts to stores or taking treats to a nursing home…. every day I try to teach my girls (4 and 6) of simple ways to make the world a better place. It’s a tradition I’m very proud of – and one I hope my girls’ will continue.
Our kids love filling boxes with school supplies and small toys for a local charity each year.
Thank you for bringing Christmas to October I’ve enjoyed it. Both my daughter’s school and workplace organise gifting trees for children who aren’t as fortunate as others. This year I plan to take my two out to pick gifts to leave there for these children.
This year I plan on taking our church youth group to a local nursing home to sing Christmas Carols. We are also planning on going to the Ronald McDonald House to prepare a meal for the families that are staying there. Great service opportunities like these bring in the true spirit of Christmas.
Since the holiday season is about putting smiles on children’s faces, I usually try to pick up a few toys to donate to the Toys for Tots drives that are usually going on at several locations. I also make sure to donate to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital during the holidays as well.
Our church supports Operation Christmas Child and I will be filling up a shoebox with goodies for a child.
Already started by donating 5 bags of (no longer used) scrapping & card making supplies to a local Assisted Living complex, they were beyond “thrilled” to receive these items.
The major charitable project however is an annual one our golf league has done for the past several years. We make financial contributions to a local county charity who in turn gives each group a list of family members needing assistance. As a group we then make a day of shopping for each child on the list hopefully fulfilling their wishes. We then designate one day as our wrapping session for as many of our group that can attend. It is a very rewarding experience to see all of those wonderful gifts collected and wrapped in one area. The county then distributes the items to each of the families. Everyone on our golf league participates and enjoys the experience.
We donate food during the holidays for families that may not be able to have a “feast”. Our school will give us information as to how many are in the family and we take it there anonymously, that way we know we’re helping within our own community.
Every year since my sister Holly died(her birthday is Christmas) our family does something to make someones holiday brighter, this year we are donating/helping pack boxes at the local FOP(my brother in law is a police officer) they bring food baskets to families in need. They put together enough food for a family of 4 for a week and a Christmas dinner. Last year I donated enough for 4 families.. hope to double that this year.
We always donate food to a homeless shelter, every month, and we try to give more during the holiday season.
What a gorgeous new release this is! My mum is in a caring home and I will be going there and give a ‘lesson’ in making christmas cards for the people there. They always love being creative and are pretty good, so looking forward to that!
I donate hand knit or crochet hats, scarves, mittens and slippers to an area shelter for the homeless. The rules of the shelter are such that everyone must leave at 7 a.m. and can only return after 7 p.m. It is very cold at 7 a.m. in the winter here so I crank up my sticks in hopes of helping someone stay warm and know there folks concerned for them.
Every year we do a giving tree at school. My kids each take a name and we give a gift to the child.
As a family we pick three kids from our local Angel Tree and buy Christmas gifts for them. The kids help with the shopping and wrapping then we deliver them back to the tree so they can go to the kids in need.
I like to volunteer on base at our Santa’s Castle, which is a place for low ranking soldiers to pick up toys for free for their kids that have been donated. It is such a great place!
There’s a Salvation Army woman who stands outside my local ACMoore in the cold. She is always happy and wishes everyone a Merry Christmas so for two years now I like to write her a big check. I’m looking forward to it again! 🙂
Great new stamps…. charitable act? Donating to the current political elections? (Laughing b/c that’s not charitable).
You’ve gotten me in the holiday spirit — great release. The next two Tuesday I am leading a holiday card making classes at the local senior citizens’ center. I am donating all supplies to make the cards. After the two sessions I need to rush and get them in the mail to Operations Write Home. I’m hoping the seniors will enjoy making cards.
We have an angel tree to pick from each year so that children can receive gifts who may not otherwise be able to afford them. I will also be donating food for our local food bank to serve the homeless. Just remembering to smile and share goodness during this season is also important. Sometimes we get stressed and caught up in our worries and forget we are all part of this wonderful world.
I usually bake for all the teachers in my three kids schools, there is 45 in just one if them! Instead this year I am going to seem permission to bake for our local hospice that I support throughout the year anyway. If that fails I’m going to pick an older people’s home and bake. I do it in memory of my beloved Grandfather. Man, I miss him everyday 🙁
My plan is make packs of holiday tags to sell for charity. My mom and I used to make cards year round to sell at her office but now that she’s retired it’s kind of fallen off so I’m hoping this project gets things back on track. We donate all of the proceeds from the sale to the International Rett Syndrome Foundation. My 10 year old daughter was diagnosed with Rett Syndrome when she was 2 so obviously it’s a cause very close to my heart.
I always take my 2 kids to each choose a child’s tag from the Kmart wishing tree and we buy that child a gift. It is important to me that my kids realize how very fortunate they are. We also make a donation to our town’s Mayor’s Christmas Appeal.
Jo R. (Australia)
We sing at the senior center, and make a card for the people there.
I am going to make a care package for the animal shelter with lots of homemade doggy and human treats. Can’t wait to use all my stamps and dies for this
We have a scheme here where you buy a toy and donate it and it gets given to children who are in need, so that’s what we will be doing.
Penny H
Each year at Christmas, I make a hamper of food for an elderly man who lives in our village. It always includes lots of home-made goodies such as chutney and jam, not to mention the mincepies, fruit, walnuts from a neighbour’s tree and given that we live in France, a good bottle of Bordeaux.
I hadn’t really thought about it yet, but thanks for making me think! I will most likely help out with the Crockett Christmas Store, a program for underpriviledged children in my area!
Our family goes caroling at a local nursing home and take them treats. We also make shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child at our church and give to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering which supports foreign missionaries around the world. We love Christmas!
This year we will be picking a child’s name off the giving tree at church and my oldest one is old enough to help pick their gifts out this year, Beautiful release and thank you for reminding us of the true meaning of Christmas!!!!
A group of us adopt a family for the holidays. We each purchase gifts for one family member. Once all of the shopping is completed, a couple people deliver the gifts. We also include a grocery store gift card and anything else we feel the family could use. It’s such a good feeling to help others!
I plan on baking christmas cookies for my sweet sweet darling neighbors….
Each Xmas we buy our own children new toys, and at the same time, we gather up all of the older toys that are no longer used & donate to various local charities.
We also donate clothing that has been outgrown.
Not only does it help those who need it, but it’s a good chance to tidy up and only keep things we use.
I also teach basic craft & card making at my grandmother’s aged care facility and like to donate a lot of my craft items that I no longer need or use.
My kids and I always choose a wish from the ‘Wish Tree’ at our local supermarket. There are wishes from kids who are less fortunate and perhaps won’t receive many gifts on Christmas. We have a lot of pleasure buy a gift for a child.
My son is organizing a clothing drive through church and I will select a child from our “Giving Tree” program at work
Oh my I”m busting with joy… come on 10 P.M. !! hugs.
We always love shopping for our Christmas Angel tree. It’s fun to get the kids involved and let them help pick out the gifts. We also like to help with the local food pantry and give a Christmas gift to our Compassion International child.
We always choose a few tags off of the giving tree at church and purchase gifts for those individuals or families.
I always participate in the adopt a family activities at work and am a baking fool for our fundraiser for the food shelter.
I will be giving a Thanksgiving basket (meal) to a family in need.
My children and I participate in Angel Tree’s every year. I allow them to pick the child (one each) and they use some of their saved allowance to purchase a gift. Also, food drives for our school, my children use some of their saved allowance for this too. I think it is important to show children how to be charitable at an early age. We might struggle some months, but we have more than a lot of people out there! Thanks for the opportunity to win 🙂
Wow! All these new release projects are incredible!!! One thing our entire family looks forward to participating in around the holidays is Operation Christmas Child sponsored by Samaritan’s Purse.
I forgot to add My charitable event.
Every year our golf league does Adopt a Family through the MCF foundation. h
My cousin (my best friend) died in a car accident when whe was 15 and ever since my family has picked a little girl from the giving tree at church to buy gifts for. And I have kept that tradition going on my own since I left home. We all miss Kathy very much!
We have been increasingly simplifying our gift giving every year. We used to draw names in the extended family (cousins with cousins, aunts and uncles with aunts and uncles, etc.) A number of years ago we changed that to each family member drawing a name from one big pool. For the past two years we each suggested a charity that was special to our hearts and then made a joint decision who the recipient would be. Last year we collected enough to dig two wells in Africa and give to a children’s AIDS/HIV orphanage in Honduras where our daughter-in-law was the Director.
I will be making extra christmas cards to send in care packages to the troops overseas.
We pick two childrens names from the Salvation Army christmas tree and buy them gifts. Being able to bring some joy to children always makes my heart happy.
Every year my daughter and I prepare home made christmas gifts such as cards and ornaments and donate them to my kids school for the christmas bazaar
We do Operation Christmas Child every year through my son’s school. It’s a great way of teaching him to be thoughtful and to give. We might also do Gospel for Asia this year.
There’s usually a food/clothing collection too when the cold weather hits. We will be doing something for that.
Another great release Nichole and DT. Fabulous sample projects!
We’ll continue one of our traditions of supporting the “angel tree” through our church or donating money to buy gifts for a needy family in our area.
I work in an elementary school. One of the things I have an opportunity to do (along with others) is to secretly supply gifts for students who really need it.
I don’t have one. My life is very busy taking care of people, and I choose to do mine at the spur of the moment, whenever the opportunity arises.
For me, being in the moment with others, including strangers, is what makes each day important. There are ample opportunities to be appreciative and empathetic. It always amazes me what strangers will talk about, if you take the time to really listen. Take someone home from a doctor’s appointment if you hear them ordering a cab. Sit in the doctor’s office, and when a conversation is started, encourage it. I’ve spent hours listening to folks talk about life, only to find out they were dying, and they needed someone to hear them. All these things make life sweeter. It’s a bit of Christmas all year long.
I work in a hospital, the wards where I work have 43 patients. Last year a co-worker and I spearheaded a project to have staff (including one of the doctors!) knit a hat for each patient to be given on Christmas Day. I will be knitting another half dozen or so hats in the next 2 months…
Our family picks a needy family to do the “12 Days of Christmas” to. We take one item the first night, anonymously, and drop it off and run! Each subsequent night we add to the number until the last night, Christmas Eve, we take 12 of whatever item. We have to be creative in our delivery, as the family catches on quite quickly! We get a warm feeling knowing we have helped someone in need and participated in the true meaning of the season.
Sending Boy Scout popcorn to those who are deployed overseas!
Our homeschool teens are planning on participating in Samaritan’s Purse this year~I’m looking forward to it!
Last Christmas our pastor gave a message about giving to others. Throughout the year we’ve saved money in a can that we will donate. We haven’t yet decided to whom or in what form but this is something we plan to do every year.
At least a box for a poor kid will be done. ok, this is already made, and I plan to and some more gift for kids with hard life.
To be completely honest I am not sure what charitable act my family and I will be doing this year but we will do something. In the past we have had our kids buy a toy for kids from the tree at the base we are stationed at.
We’ll pack a couple shoe boxes with Christmas presents for needy people – kids and seniors. A local charity sponsors this every year.
Love all the new products this time!
I hope to make 50~100 cards for Operation write home.
Really looking forward to the holidays this year 🙂
We help with Operation Shoe Box through our church. Also, a lady in our church goes to garage sales all year long and gets dolls, doll beds and she cleans them up and we make clothes and blanklets for the dolls and them give them to children in our local shelters for Christmas.
My card club has been working all year to make Christmas Cards for an assisted living facility, and I’ve also been saving items for Operation Christmas Child’s shoebox drive.
What a great question! Every year we take at least two “snowflakes” off the tree at church, which gives us children’s wish lists to fulfill. My husband and I don’t have small kids to buy for anymore (the nieces and nephews are growing up!) so we enjoy going to Toys R Us to shop.
My husband and I do not exchange gifts. Instead we use the money to buy gifts for a needy family. I also provide gifts from a list for Santa from a parent of a needy child. To me, Christmas is about sharing with others.
I am cleaning out my scrap stuff as we speak and it is going to the local women’s shelter. For the woman and children to have when they come into the shelter. You would be surprised how the children love to do crafts and it helps get their minds off what is happening at the time. Thanks for letting me share with you.
Along with my church, we are collecting as many items as we can to send as many boxes as we are able to Operation Christmas Child. Boxes need to be sent in November so we are collecting now! 🙂
I plan on donating some of the makings of a Thanksgiving basket to our local school. Every year they make baskets for local families who cannot otherwise have a Thanksgiving.
My church always throws a Christmas party for the kids at a local homeless family shelter. We will be helping with both the planning and throwing of the party.
I plan on volunteering in a program provided by our county library system. The program provides services and activities to seniors who reside in assisted living facilities and those who attend adult day care.
Hello Friends. We have so much happening this year around the holidays. Another wedding on Dec 29 (just had one in Aug and it is the same family!) that my husband will fly down to attend. And a baby shower on Dec 23 locally for my niece and her first child. And don’t forget the hubby’s family holiday get together on the 24th. We are helping in any way we can with all the festivities and it is getting crazy around here. But it will be a fun and chaotic time for sure!
As part of our own holiday tradition, we will donate toys to the local mission that my son picks out of his current toys. He is a generous boy and this is a good tradition to keep going for our family.
Hope you all hold on tight for the upcoming ride.
I do the same charitable acts every year and they revolve around the school I work for. I donate my time to help kids who are falling behind, to work with their parents as the PTO president, and to volunteer at after school activities. I use my money to buy science supplies. Our entire program is funded solely by me. I also donate to the school canned food drive and to the one held at my children’s school.
At Christmas time, I like to teach my kids about giving, instead of focusing on giving. This year, we’ll pack some shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child for Samaritan’s Purse.
I do my best to be charitable throughout the year by donating to causes that I support. Thanks for another set of fabulous stamps!
As a grieving parent and today being Hannah’s remembrance day, gone 8 years…sigh, I supply the paper, folders, print all the information and put them together for our newcomers’ packets, this is a year round job. In December we have our World Wide Candle Lighting, second Sunday in December, which the chapter leader and I plan and are up front on the podium the night of. I also make the picture buttons for the other parents and sometimes candles with their childs’ picture on them. Christmas is the single most difficult holiday of the year so I do my best to help others through it.
I plan on organizing a food drive/helping out at the food shelf for my daughters cheer team to donate their time and supplies.
My next door neighbor is in his upper 80’s, lives alone since his wife passed away, & is becoming more & more dependent. Many times he eats saltine crackers & peanut butter for a meal. I plan to provide some special meals for him during the holiday season. He needs so much right now. We also have several projects through our church that we help with. It is the season of giving, truly.
I will make a donation to the Salvation Army. I also try to do daily acts of kindness…i.e. helping an elderly person in the store parking lot, helping an overwhelmed mom in the store.
What a wonderful release – Lov it!
I’m joining the Card drive again – to make cards for old and lonely people, and this year I’m planning on having my students join in as well which will be fun.
Our family will again provide Christmas gifts to under-privileged kids in our town. We usually purchase gifts for a preschooler and a teenager. My children and I will also participate in a card drive this year.
Every year we take our kids to city hall and each of us pick a name off the angel tree. It has been fun shopping for someone else and seeing the kids get into the true meaning of christmas.
Christmas Holidays is usually spent with family and friends. Parties and parties galore!!!
I usually put something in donations boxes in different stores while I’m shopping.
Every year we give to the Salvation Army…I try to locate and then donate at every kettle we see (aided by the jingle bells of course!)
Just before Christmas I (and a group of other volunteers) will pick out and deliver library books to people who cannot come to the library themselves, due to old age or bad health. This is not just for the holiday season, though, we do this all year long, once a month! Other than that, I always donate to our local food bank.
I’m part of local ladies club that does charitable work all year long. We raise money to help kids in our schools as well as different organizations in and around our community. This week we are all collecting household supplies for people in need at a local shelter.
We always pick several tags from the giving tree at our church and purchase gifts for people less fortunate that we are. My kids classes also always adopt families for Thanksgiving and Christmas food baskets.
Every year my husband and I help the local food bank. I also make cards each year to donate to an elementary school auction geared toward raising funds for school art programs.
We usually visit children who are less fortunate in an institution and offer toys and clothing… I’m planning on doing the same this year, as a lot of people in our country are in need!!! Hope for a better new year!!!
My favorite angel tree is for the adults that live in our local “county home”. I choose a man and woman who seem to like the same things my parents liked. So although I don’t give my deceased parents gifts anymore, I give to the “angels” with my parents in mind.
I also have an abundance of cards I’ve made so I’m going to donate them to a local senior center and retirement home. I’m also going to make additional Christmas cards to give them too.
I think this is my favorite release yet! What beautiful projects! We always bake goodies for our neighbors and cut and split firewood for people in our community that need it.
We help with cooking for the elderly in our community. Offering a holiday meal to these people in need is such a comfort!!!
My boys and I will be buying a few toys for the Toys for Tots program. It’s important for them to see how good it feels to give to others and that there are folks who are less fortunate.
I assist my husband, who rings bells to collect money to assure the less fortunate children in the area have toys for christmas.
One of the things we do is help our church with Operation Christmas Child bringing toys, supplies, and necessities and filling boxes to send to children in need. We’re hoping to fill 150 boxes this year!
My aunt lives in a home care center. They are having a fair to celebrate the center’s 50th anniversary. I’m a volunteer to help them in the fair that weekend.
Every year our Church provides Thanksgiving Dinner for the children who are in the Child Welfare Center at the local Catholic Charities Center. Our group provides the side dishes for dinner, as well as some of our families go to the center to serve the meal, then spend the afternoon with the kids.
I will be making cards for the Caring Hearts drive. The cards will be distributed to various nursing homes. So excited about this release!
So many lovely works of art this month!! I am working hard to try to stay within my budget which is soooo hard to do! This year we will be buying gifts for our school’s angel tree project! There are so many in need and this will be the year of giving!
We do the Angel Tree and this year we’re also doing shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child.
Our children’s school usually has a fund raiser for those in need. We donate through our church for those in need.
Thanks so much for another fabulous release!
I’ve been busy already. Last week I sent a box of 100 homemade holiday cards to Operation Write Home. Check out their website for info how you can help too 😉
I teach papercrafting to a group of elderly ladies with all my wonderful PTI goodies and plan on making each one of them a small gift for my next class.
Our church has a tree and we can pick a number that has a list of items that a family could use.
We always give gifts to the Gift Box and then we always help bake goods for the church so that those who don’t get to celebrate the season with family has a good meal and cookies to celebrate the holiday!! THANKS for sharing and for the chance to win!! Have a FABULOUS WEEK!! =)
As a family, we are going to volunteer for a homeless ministry sponsored by our church. We are hoping to continue volunteering past the holidays and make it an on-going family activity…
Our family sponsors children through a shoebox program. We always fill two shoe boxes with gifts, one for a boy and one for a girl. We really enjoy finding fun and practical gifts for each child and fill their shoebox to the brim, then wrap the box and send it on it’s way. This year, through the magic of technology, we’ll also be able to track the boxes and find out where each has landed. It’s a great program and we’re thrilled each year to participate!
Our church is participating in Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child. I will be making a shoebox full of gifts to be sent across the world for a needy child. I am sure it will include a crafty Christmas tag!
I will be blessed by helping a lady who is going through a difficult time by picking up her son at school and take him home when she can’t.
I am part of a church group that makes cards and people donate money for the cards and the money goes to our food pantry. I just learned that the food pantry is having trouble getting their usual food donations so I hope our monetary donations can help them.
In past Decembers our family and a few others have gotten together and put together a Christmas performance/talent show for a local nursing home. All the children sing Christmas carols, and then we have many solos on piano, flute and violin. Many of the boys and girls will also donn clogging shoes and dance to Frosty the Snowman as well. It makes an enjoyable evening for those residents and more so for us. I am already having my kids practice for this years performance!
This holiday season I will be baking to give to my neighbors and also for our church. I would also like to make some cards for either the troops or another needy card drive.
Here in Germany there is a charity event Called “Christmas in a shoebox”. You put a shoebox for a girl or a boy full with goodies (you get a list from church of what may enter) and they bring them to crisis areas in Eastern Europe and Asia. I think that is a good thing !
Everyone in our family picks out a toy (preferably one without batteries) or game, and we add it to the gift pile at the local mall. They then get donated to local shelters in the area.
Our Sunday school class at church is given the first name of a child from our local school, whose family is struggling financially, to buy 1-2 complete outfits of clothing, as well as a few toys and games. It is one of the greatest blessings we receive at this time of the year.
Our church has a giving tree & we always choose an ornament off the tree & donate the wish to a needy person. Also our local CARE program….my kids & I always enjoy going shopping & making sure we pick out some great gifts to donate. Wish more people did this…this is the one thing that I’m most passionate about. No child should ever go without a gift for Christmas!
We have an angel tree at our church for children of our members that may be having a tough time due to job loss, illness, etc. I will choose items to purchase gifts for these children!
We donate money anonymously to our local church congregation so it can be used to help any of the members who might need extra help this time of year.
I love the whole release this time I think the best release ever.
Can’t wait to get creative with it.
My charitable act for this year is helping at school with all the festivities they have planned. I also created cards to give to all the teachers and people who do so much for our childern.
For Christmas this year I’d like for the kids to donate their good condition toys to a shelter, for all of us to make cookies for our local fire fighters station, pick a few angels from the angel tree and make up a box of donations for CardCupids.org – I guess we should start now! LOL
Our church holds a Christmas dinner and party for special needs adults from our community, most of whom live in group homes and have no family. My husband plays Santa and everyone has a wonderful time 🙂
We are filling shoe boxes for girls & boys for Christmas. We purchase toys, school supplies, & hygiene items and they are put in the boxes along with $7 each to ship the box and it goes to a third world country for children on Christmas and it is also an opportunity to teach them about Jesus. We do it at my church and it is for the organization Samaritan’s Purse.
We like to visit our local Kmart and buy a gift for some less fortunate then us, and leave it under the gift tree. It’s only little but I know it make some else’s Christmas that bit better.
I work for a cancer treatment facility and every year we pick one or two patients that we know are having a particularly hard time. We buy them food and gifts. On a personal level, I will be making Christmas cookies and taking them to the local homeless shelter.
I try to make donationd to the food bank, or create an entire hamper, if I am so blessed.
I also try to do alot of baking to pass it on to others who don’t bakem, or as treats to be reminded that someone is thinking of them.
Every year my kids’ school has a giving tree with tags representing families (who are not identified by name) at the school who are in need. My kids bring home a tag and we supply a Christmas present and an item of need such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, etc. We also have our kids pick tags from a local Salvation Army Angel Tree and we supply gifts. We want our children to learn that they should share their blessings so we try to help someone, in some way, throughout the year.
Our family will be donating to the “Coats for Kids” again this year. We also donate money to the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan at this time of year when so many families are hungry.
One of our favorite holiday traditions is to fill shoe boxes with items for children through Operation Christmas Child.
I volunteer with a church group who feed the homeless in a nearby town, last year in addition to the food provided we put together Christmas gift bags (with toiletries, socks, gloves, scarves,etc) and this year I want to bake some goodies and wrap them with an inspirational quote to be added in each bag.
Thanks for a wonderful October Release loaded with beautiful ideas!
Making meals for a family while their mother fights breast cancer.
Sending cards to keep their spirits up.
Praying.
Doing laundry if needed….or anything else I can do to help to keep them uplifted and bless them the best I can today and always.
Another wonderful month of releases. The DT has outdone themselves with the samples! Every year our family gets together to serve Christmas dinner at the local homeless shelter.
I always like to give children who have little some joy at Christmas, so we do that through Samaritan’s Purse Shoebox appeal, and through the K-mart Wishing Tree. I think it is good for my kids (and me) to remember that there are others who have nothing, and to be reminded of how much we really have.
I love to surprise people with baked goods. People that are unable to cook for themselves and do not often get homemade goodies. I love the smiles it brings to their faces!
What a wonderful release! I love all the inspiring samples. Regarding charitable acts, we do a number of different things during the holidays; one is playing music in a local nursing home. Actually, we do this once a month, not just during the holidays, but while we normally do songs from the generation of the residents, during the holiday season we do mostly Christmas/holiday type songs. Our group is a big hit and we have some 90-year old groupies!
I volunteer in the school I retired from and love helping the children. I will, again, pick names from my church’s Helping Tree and buy presents for underpriveleged children. No child should go without something on Christmas!
We donate to Toys for Tots. This is a great question to get everyone thinking about this important subject.
I’ll be gift wrapping at Barnes and Noble to raise funds for a literacy program where I volunteer one day a week throughout the year.
My husband and I work with his Lion’s Club on their food and toy drive. It is a big community effort for those in need in our community. Families receive at least one toy for each child and several huge boxes of both canned and fresh food, and a turkey plus the fixen’s for the meal. It really takes the whole year to put together but for a solid week people come together to pul off this holiday miracle.
Every year at my office, we all go to the local food bank and volunteer for a morning. We go during work hours so we are all together. They usually have us sorting food or making care packages. It is always so rewarding every year.
I don’t have much to share this year, but i plan to donate some clothes to charity and I always to donate to the different charites, I know every penny helps!
beautiful release! Such gorgeous projects from the entire DT.
buying Chanukah gifts for those who would not otherwise receive
I volunteer with a church group that feeds hungry homeless people, and I also make a number of charitable donations. I’ve really enjoyed this month’s release–thank you!
In our small town there is an angel tree… I always draw a tag and place a gift for that child under the tree.
We usually donate to Toys for Tots and “adopt” a child through the school district to provide them with Christmas gifts for the season. I am sure we’ll participate in food drives as well.
I have a friend that is moving to another state the week before Christmas. Moving is typically a stressful time, and this move will be difficult for her family. In as much as she will let me, I would like to take some of the work out of her days during that month so that she isn’t exhausted when the new year rolls around.
I donate Christmas cards to local churches to pass out to members of their congregations. We also purchase angels (gifts for children) from the Angel Christmas tree project.
Each year our school does Operation Christmas Child, I did it with my own children through our church when they were younger. I stil enjoy putting together one or two of these boxes for a child who otherwise may not ever receive a gift. Those are my plans for this holiday season.
Because we live in such abundance compared to most of the world, the adults in our family decided many years ago to make donations to favourite causes at Christmas time, instead of exchanging gifts.
Yesterday I went and purchased a bunch of items off “the most needed” list for our local food bank. They always do a big food drive in the fall to start preparing for Christmas.
Thank you for caring for these kids-this touched my heart! I wish you a blessed Christmas season.
We have several things we love to do as a family during this blessed time, but the favorite thing of all for our granddaughters, is to pick an angel from our angel tree at Church. We then shop for the recipients during the season and it helps to remind all of us what the true meaning of the season is.
Our children will each pick a child from an angel tree to shop for & give a Christmas gift to. It’s an annual tradition.
We always sponsor a family during Thanksgiving and Christmas. Thanks for the chance to win!!
I participate in Operation Christmas Child. This involves packing up a shoe box with toys, clothes and goodies for a child and sent overseas.
I do what I can for the local animal shelters – donating food, toys & other supplies, volunteering with gift wrap drives – whatever I can to help dogs get a second chance for a happy life. Thanks so much for the chance to win!
I always give to the Salvation Army and we give to St. Jude all year round. Thanks for another great release.
Our church does a huge open food pantry for the community in December. It has become a Christmas tradition for our family to help bag the groceries the night before the open food pantry. Typically, about 800 bags of groceries are packed on that Friday night and we have found that it is many of the same families that help each year which just adds to the loveliness of the tradition. We also enjoy building boxes for Operation Christmas Child which sends holiday care packages to children around the world, many in refugee camp settings.
This past winter/spring I spent a lot of time sitting with my husband during his chemo treatments. To keep my hands busy I knitted hats. I donated a couple dozen to the cancer center, then I made 59 “extra” over the summer. These I will be donating to our church’s Food Pantry to hand out to the children with the Christmas baskets and Angel Tree gifts.
This year I plan on making Hanukkah cards and donating them to my synagogue so they can sell them. Your new dies/stamps set would be perfect for that! 🙂
We donate to our local Children’s Hospital which does amazing work. Our DD had surgery there when she was 10 and we were new to the community. We also pick two children from the giving tree @ our local grocery so we know we’re helping children right here in our area have a better Christmas. Wish we could do more!
This will be my 3rd year being in charge of prepping & organizing a holiday card project at my children’s elementary school. Each child does 2 cards – one for family & one to be given to a “shut in” (the cards go to shelters, veterans hospitals, children’s facilities, homes for the elderly, etc.) We prep for over 800 cards – 400 of which go to brighten the holidays for people who really need an extra kind gesture to brighten their holidays. It really helps teach the kids how easy (& fun) it can be to make a do something good for those who are in need (physically or even just emotionally). The kids that deliver the cards get an even bigger lesson in the power of good deeds!
This year we will give an extra donation to the sponsor a child ministry we support. Since we can’t send a physicl gift, the money donation is a way to give a Christmas gift. I must say this months question has me thinking early about other ways we can do charity too. 🙂 it’s never to early to plan things like that.
I plan on caroling to fund raise for a youth organization.
We do Angel Tree every year and I will continue my year round volunteering giving one day per week of my time serving at our local food pantry.
I am making christmas cards for the local senior home. I plan to donate all my unused clothes and donate them.
I love the holidays and the spirit of giving. Each year I buy toys for the toys for tots campaign. I also participate in a couple of angel trees.
Like many businesses, ours had made cutbacks over the years and things like a staff holiday party and small recognition have gone by the wayside. Although individuals in various departments typically do something for one another, I wanted everyone who works here to get a little something. I came across a sale on some adorable tealight holders and thought they’d make the perfect gift for each of my coworkers. I plan to fill the base with holiday candies, and set the tealight in the top. Everyone deserves a little recognition at the holidays. Great question.
Through church they always collect turkey’s and children’s gifts and through work we participate in the canned food drive or adobt a family. It helps to remember how truly blessed we are and giving is what it’s all about.
We are part of a Jeep/4×4 OffRoad club in Chicago and they host a Toys-4-Tots drive every year. Imagine a line of 150-200 Jeep Wranglers (stock and what could pass as monster trucks) on Lake Shore Drive making their way from the Soldier Field parking lot to the Marine base on the far north side of the city. My 11yo saves a portion of his weekly allowance for charitable gifts, so he goes toy shopping just for T4T. It’s fun to see vehicles with Xmas decorations and loaded to the gills with toys. It’s a family affair that we look forward to each year.
Every holiday season our church sponsors an Angel Tree ( we always contribute a few items). We also choose names of of homebound seniors to send holiday cards to (obviously, I really enjoy this and send my most elaborate creations!).
I am sending money to the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta.
I will be teaching a card making class and donating the supplies to send to an orphanage our church has sponsored in Kazakhstahn. These children do not have families, besides the sponsors, and many are never even held as babies. I heard how they cried when some children received cards or letters from their sponsors, and most of them did not receive anything. It’s hard even to imagine their level of loneliness. I want them all to receive a card handmade just for them,to know someone cares for them. It’s a small thing I can do, but that’s what Christmas is all about.
We always pick a boy angel from the angel tree and have a blast shopping for him!
I don´t do a special Christmas charity, but work as a volunteer at our school to provide the kids with a healthy breakfast all year round. Also, I regularly de-clutter my sewing room and donate the unused fabric to a sewing club for homeless women and our outgrown clothing goes to the Inner Mission. They have a boutique-style store, where people with little money can find clothes for next-to-nothing.
Greetings, Christine
(looking forward to all your wonderful stamps and dies)
Every year my Husband, Grand-daughter and self collect for Contact Food Pantry. We play guitar, fiddle and sing carols outside the Dollar Store in our city. This year our Grand-daughter will be playing the Mt.dulcimer as well.She is 10. This is a one day a week for 4-5 week commitment that has proved to be a great blessing to us…and a real chill sometimes. One year the temp. dipped to 12 degrees…boy was that a cold night.
We sponsor 2 children – one in Kenya and one in Honduras. We always send them some extra money at Christmas. They are so appreciative. One of the things they buy a lot is blankets. Blankets are a luxury. We are so blessed!
My mother and I have been crocheting afghans for Project Linus. Since mid-July we have made a total of 11 afghans for them. My plan is to get the afghans to the project coordinator in time for the Holidays.
I work in a small law firm and we always adopt a family at Christmas time, buying, toys, clothing, and groceries..
I adopt a family at work for giving Christmas presents too. I do it every year.
In the past I have donated food to the local shelter, and filled the shoe boxes to be shipped off to other countries, but I have a deep tug inside of me to do more. More for our community. So asking this question is good timing to get me thinking more of how I should direct my time to help others not just during the holiday season, but througout the year. Right now I’m not sure in what way I will help in our community this holiday, but I will!
One year when my 3 children (now young adults) were being very naughty, I decided to teach them the true spirit of giving to those let fortunate. I took them shopping with the money I planned on spending on them for Christmas gifts, and we bought useful items to hand out at the local women and childrens shelter (toiletries, socks, mittens, etc). Then, we put the items in gift bags and delivered them on Christmas Eve. My children did each end up with just one gift that year more on the expensive side, but they told me later how much they valued the gift-giving to the people in the shelter. So, every year since then, we have continued the tradition and now even my grandchildren are getting in on the action.
I work with one of my friend who is part of a social group to create holiday cards for two senior homes and two hospitals. For the Senior Homes, I put together a card kit – so that they can actually make the cards themselves and then for the hospital we make the cards. I love doing this for them.
Every Christmas we include in our Christmas buying list and budget a gift from the World Vision Catalog. World Vision does work with areas in great need including Africa, Latin America and the US. The catalog includes items like soccer balls, blankets, medicine, rabbits, ducks and larger items like cows, ox & water pumps. We get together as a family and go through the catalog on Christmas Eve or Christmas day and decide together what gifts to buy from the catalog to bless a family who is without, then we buy them on-line.
A local church nearby helps families who have been displaced from their home get back on their feet. We adopt one of these families every Christmas and become their ‘secret Santa’. We spend the 2nd Sat in Dec doing all of our Christmas shopping for this family. Then we go home and the kids help us wrap everything and create tags for all the gifts. The kids LOVE shopping for the kids of the family and I LOVE watching my kids see the joy in giving.
Each year we pick a child to buy a gift for this year we are picking a senior that needs too. Their list usually includes things like pjs or robes. Hard to believe that something so little makes such a difference
Ou local Salvation Army has a Christmas giveaway every year to hand out donated toys and turkeys and gift certificates from a local grocery store. I volunteer one day to work taking the family applications and one day on the day of the giveaway. It’s very rewarding to help those who really do need the help. We are have been drastically effective by a job loss, my husband lost his job after 15 years, but after spending two days working at the Salvation Army we feel very lucky to have what we have and knowing it could be worse.
Our family always does the Operation Christimas Child boxes. It is such a wonderful tool to teach my kids the gift of giving and we shop all year round for things to put into the boxes. Such a great way to be able to give to a child who are orphans and basically have nothing to call their own. We also bake cookies and take them up to the firehall every Christmas Day as a thank you to them for all they do for so many.
I’m going to prepare meals and help distribute much needed supplies to the less fortunate through a wonderful organizationin Atlanta called Hosea Feed the Hungry.
Reading through some of these answers has blessed my socks off! We are a great country because we are a nation of givers. Thank you for the reminder. Our church, like countless others gives us so many choices, from an Angel Tree, to Samaritan’s Purse, to local needs, there are options for year round. One special need we (my husband and I) give to is Evangel Home, a woman’s shelter, that takes in women with children, who find themselves on the street. Thank you again for reminding all of us so blessed to continue to share the care!
A few years back my husband’s family decided to pool what we adults would’ve spent on each other for Christmas and give anonymously to a person/family in the area. We’ve given to extended family members who have been having a tough year, and have gone through our local schools to find families who may struggle with the upcoming holidays. Every year this amounts to over $700, and we’re struck by how we don’t miss the “stuff” we would’ve gotten, and enjoy the hope that the toys/gift cards/etc. makes a difference in someone’s life.
My brother and I give charitable donations in each other’s names – instead of exchanging presents.
Last year my family and I served a Thanksgiving meal at one of our local homeless shelters. This year we plan to do it again.
I love the new release!
I volunteer 2 days a week at my kids’ (former) elementary school, in the kindergarten class. I’m in my tenth year and I enjoy working with the kids. I am also planning to make some Christmas cards and tags to donate to our church’s Christmas Bazaar. I usually make cookies, but this year I want to do something different. 🙂 Thanks for all the wonderful inspiration!
I’ve had a very strong fall and winter publishing season so I’m taking all of my publication money, going to Toys R Us and Babies R Us and buying everything I can to donate to Toys for Tots. In June, I sent over 100 cards to the middle east for our soldiers to send to their loved ones at Christmas while they are serving our country for our freedom.
My daughter and I going to put together some care packages for the homeless. We want to fill them with gloves, hats, some food and we hope to find some small bibles we can add.
I always like to tag a tag or two from a local Angel Tree and buy gifts for a need child. Our church also participates in a “Shoebox” gift collection, where shoeboxes are filled and shipped to children in needy countries. I always do one for a boy and one for a girl.
I mainly collect recipes to holiday meal.
The usual holiday ones of thanksgiving food baskets and the giving tree at our church but reading all these posts have me thinking outside the box now. Thanks for the inspiration!
I always look forward to visiting our Elderly in the Nursing homes. We go with our youth groups and go throughout halls singing Christmas Carolls & Handing out handmade Christmas cards, little treats andgifts. The children really enjoy it to and it lifts everyone’s spirits.
Funny, I’ve just been talking to my husband about something new I want to do this year. I want to take our boys and serve lunch/dinner on Thanksgiving or Christmas for the less fortunate. I think our family could use a reality check.
This year our family will continue to pack a box for Operation Christmas Child. I would also like to donate food and money for our local food bank.
I help at our church that provides for 100 families at Thanksgiving and Christmas. We gather food from stores as well as the congregation. At Christmas the congregation also provides gifts. Then we work one day filling boxes with all the donated food. The next day we deliver the boxes to the families.
My husband and I are hosting some enlisted personnel currently at the US Coast Guard training center in Cape May, NJ for Christmas dinner since they are not allowed to go home.
happy holidays!
I will donate clothes to charity organization. A warm Christmas for everyone!!
I am planning to donate craft supplies to our local school, and clothing and household goods to charitable organizations.
Thank you for this question to reflect, CONVICTION time..What AM I doing for others?, and for whose benifit am I doing it?
Throughout the year I buy clearance toys that we donate to Toys for Tots or another family that is adopted by one of our local stores. We also have a giving tree at church that we buy some items for as well. It feels so good to give to these needy people!
Our local mall has a Angel Tree that my family and I always participate in getting clothes or toys for a child.
We always donate food to Harvesters, and every time we pass the bell ringers…we donate to the Salvation Army. This year I want to do RACK….random acts of Christmas kindness. Looks like fun!
I participate at work with our Adopt a Family program. I also buy the premade brown bags of groceries at my local supermarket that are then distributed to needy families. I try to buy one each week as I do my shopping thoughout the holiday season.
Serving up food for people with mental illness, and with my donated crafting supplies, teach card making for their loved ones and holiday decorations for their apartments.
I was a bit taken aback at this question. Usually, during the holidays, I am madly making gifts for family and friends and doing some craft shows. In all these years, I have barely given a thought to actually volunteering my time or efforts for the needy. While I have contributed to United Way or toys for tots or canned food donations, I have not done any of that recently. I do travel through the Harbor Tunnel (Baltimore) every day for work, and around Thankgiving time, I think, the State Police have a toy collection drive right outside the toll booths that you can drop your donation into. I will definitely do that this year! I love making cards, and after reading about the donations folks are making to nursing homes and the troops, I am going to organize some friends to make cards for a cause this year! Thanks Nichole, for making me stop and think about what *I* can do!
Happy Holidays, everyone! I really need to start my holiday projects soon! I do several charitable acts during the holiday season…it just brings the season to life for me. We participate in the Giving Tree at our church and we adopt a family in need at a local youth organization. Last year, we also served a meal at our church on Christmas Day to the homeless and people spending the holiday alone…we’ll probably do that again this year, too.
We try to help with the annual Thanksgiving feast downtown. Last year, we sorted clothes and donations, and a few years ago, we actually helped debone turkey.
Something much closer to home is to help with church activities – we always donate stamps or gift cards for the less fortunate in our area. We are truly blessed, and hope we can help others have some blessed holidays too!
I love to pick a tag from our local “Angel” tree for children. It’s so fun shopping for them and a great feeling giving to someone else. Also at work, we just donated our third-quarter jeans donation to a local church for buying Christmas gifts for families. (We can wear jeans to work on Fridays but to do so we must contribute $2 to a fund. Every quarter we pick a local charity to donate the money to.)
we will do angel tree or toys for tots donation and also plan to donate money for thanksgiving feast. thanks for a chance to win
My favorite thing to do is pack shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child! I look forward to it each year! 🙂
I work at a community hospital and every year I donate Christmas cards to be distributed to those unfortunate patients who are inhouse on Christmas day.
I am going to ask my local church about the charity event they will do and participate.
This holiday season I am teaching my 5 year old all about giving to children who are less fortunate. For a long time now I’ve given toys, clothes and other donations to our local “Toys for Tots”. It’s an amazing feeling to know that I can give a few children a better Christmas and it’s a feeling I want my son to experience as well.
I always adopt two angels from our angel tree at work, a child and senior. I also decided to add a new challenge this year… as someone without children, I’ve never done a Christmas countdown, but this year, I decided to challenge myself to complete a RAK each day for 25 days. I think it will be a wonderful way to put me into the holiday spirit.
We always wish we could do more, but my husband and I will give, at the holiday season, to a local charity that we have supported for years.
Usually I pick something for children and leave it at the Angel Tree in our mall.
Love the new releases. This year we are sending gifts to our “adopted child” in Brazil. We also do the can drive and the coat drive at my boys school. We also enjoy making cookies and goodies to deliver to our local fire fighters. The holidays are a wonderful time to be involved with helping others.
Our church has a Thanksgiving and Christmas local community food outreach every year. We fill a box with all the fixings for a Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, along with a gift card for a turkey. I think we had over 100 boxes filled last year for each holiday! I also participate in filling a stocking for children in the area through CCAP. It always feels good to help others during the holiday season!
Something that keeps going through my mind is the ornaments/pieces of art that you make and leave for people to find. I would really like to do these.
Last year my family went shopping on the World Vision Christmas catalog. On the catalog you can buy farm animals for families, bikes for missionaries, and many other items. My husband, son, and I gathered around the laptop to choose gifts for others. It was wonderful, and we plan on making that a yearly tradition.
We always do Operation Christmas Child and are so excited to participate in that again. I also plan to make some special cards and baked goods for some people that need a little boost this holiday season.
I will be donating presents for our Christmas amalgamated and helping with food hampers at our church 🙂 We are truly blessed to have so much.
Wonderful new products Nicole and team.
I have several things going on. I have a 2 year old and every year we are going to go through her toys and choose 2 to donate. This will be our first year. I’m also making cards for the troops… and donating to our building fund at church. Busy time.
We always pick a few childrens name from the giving tree at our church and purchase gifts for them. We also collect coats for kids during the year so that we can get them to the kids to use in the cold weather.
I always participate in The Giving tree @ church. You pick a mitten of the tree with a child’s Christmas wish. You purchase it and wrap it and return it to church for a needy child
My church does a Giving Tree. We will pick a paper ornament from the tree one Sunday and return the desired gift the next.
I haven’t decided yet on my charitable act. We usually help someone(anonymously)in our small community of 450. There are a lot of people who need help year round and especially during the holidays. We have done the twelve days of Christmas in the past and it was lots of fun…so we may do that again, or just Christmas baskets for several families on Christmas Eve.
We try to give as much as possible to several charities (childrens world fund, guiding eyes, our local shelters)thur out the year. This year we will be giving more of our time then money or toys as spending money this year will be an issue for us.
We donate food for the Christmas dinner boxes our church puts together for the needy in our congregation.
Rather than buy gifts for friends, we started donating to our local food bank in their names. It sure makes shopping (and wrapping!) easy, and the gift is always well-received.
For Thanksgiving, we go to the local mission and help feed the homeless and for Christmas we have a tree at work where we can buy gifts requested by children through the Salvation Army.
Every year myself and my women’s sunday school class make shoeboxes for children in schools at New Missions in Haiti.
I support a local charity for children with visual impairments one of their fundraisers is a Christmas Tree lot. My sons and I will be donating our time at the lot. We always get more back from the experience than what we give.
Ever since I have been an adult living on my own, I have always gone to the mall to pick out at least one tag from the Giving Tree at the mall. The college years were pretty lean but I like to try to purchase for as many people as I can afford within the year’s budget.
I have been enjoying making cards for Operation Write Home, I have a box to send out this week. My family has also enjoyed filling boxes for children around the world for Samaritan’s Purses’ Operation Christmas Child . We are blessed to have a distribution center in our area and we always work there each year. This will be the second year one of my daughters will train the volunteers as they come for the three weeks it takes to inspect and ship the shoe boxes.
Love all the new items!
I make cards for Operation Write Home for the military to have something special to write a note in to send to their families and friends.
I just started volunteering at our community food bank so will be helping out this holiday season as well as year round. Another project I do every Christmas is having my grandkids each donate one of their toys to a child who is in need. They love doing this every year!
In our church, we pull tags for each member in our family and buy gifts for needy boys and girls as well as other family members.
During the holiday season, we often by gifts for an adopted family. Of late, we have relied on a holiday donation for our congregation, to help as many families as we can in the manner that best suits them.
I’m planning to make a bunch of cards for Vera Yates’ card drive as well as send a slew off to OWH too.
In my department at work we “adopt a family” and help them during the holiday season. Also, there is an “angel tree” on which paper ornaments are placed
with items listed that are needed by area families.
I always donate to my local food bank, but I especially like to around the holidays. When so much of my own family traditions revolve around food, it breaks my heart to think that anyone is going without even basic necessities.
We will do several, but the Angel tree at my daughter’s school and decorating a tree to benefit the local zoo are two items we are planning!
One thing I look forward to every holiday season are the Salvation Army bell ringers and their bright red buckets. Every time I see these volunteers, I stop to say hello and thank them for their service and I always drop a donation in the bucket. Sometimes it might be a few bills, sometimes just the change in my purse but I do it for each and every one that I see. These volunteers stand out in the cold on their time and they are always so nice and cheery. Sometimes, if they are particularly sweet, I’ll donate on the way in and the way out!
We help families through our church with Kids Hope USA. A fabulous mentoring program.
My granddaughter has a brother who is not related to me. But I always send him a gift anytime I send her one.
I am so excited for this release!!! 🙂 I want to start a card making group at my church so that we can have free cards on hand for all occasions. 😉 I also want to start a tradition of volunteering at local places for my son so that he understands how blessed he is and that he should also give back. 🙂
Lauren
My comment keeps disappearing. We will be helping with our St. Vincent Depaul at our church. We make Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner boxes for the family’s in need.
Every holiday season my daughter and I visit the angel tree at out local mall to buy gifts for the less fortunate. Each year we choose 5 boys and 5 girls of various ages.
It is our way of providing some happiness to them.
Each year our local hospice society has a booth from December 1 – December 23 where folks from our communities have an opportunity to come share their stories of a deceased loved one. It is very rewarding to be part of this wonderful event and that is what I will be doing this year.
This is also the time of year we hope to spread a little Christmas cheer to the homeless. Whatever their needs we try to accommodate.
During the holidays, I do not walk past a Salvation Army bucket without making a donation. In addition, my workplace has a sign up to provide holiday gifts to a local home for disabled adults as well as to a pet shelter.
My charitable act is an ongoing ministry I participate in. I make and sell card and “treat” items and donate the money to my church for mission work in Malawi, Africa. Due to the amazing creativity of all of the PTI DT I make items that sell very well and am able to donate a nice sum every year!
Thank you Nichole for your never ending stream of fabulous products and ideas to keep my products fresh and new!
Susan
Every year we adopt a couple families at work. I collect all of the donations, creat shopping lists and of course shop! Our entire department is very generous.
Every year I give my kids a bit of money and ask them to choose where to do donate it. If we can, we go to the organization to give the money in person. We also regularly go through toys and clothes and donate a few boxes throughout the year.
We’re empty nesters and when my husband became ill, we gave up (quite willingly) the Christmas shopping craziness – now we donate to Wounded Warriors, and we like to shop for a few children for the Salvation Army’s angel trees, then on Christmas Eve we drive around town handing out hot meals, cocoa & some homemade Christmas cookies to the homeless.
I will donate toys to church.
My dad passed away during the Christmas holidays of 2007. The local Hospice was wonderful to him as well as our family throughout his illness. My husband and I make a contribution to them every year at Christmas in my dad’s memory.
We will continue our family tradition in adopting a family and filling their wish list. But I am inspired by the many thoughtful acts that others have written here and will come up with a new tradition or two. I like the idea of cards for seniors.
We are going to sponsor a child for Christmas this year. I’ve thought about doing a “ring and run” of a jar of change RAK, but I’m not really sure who we would do it for. We are kinda new in the neighborhood and don’t really know who would best be able to use it. Great question!
There are so many opportunities for giving all year long. We donate bags of groceries to the Fire Dept food drive when they come around in the big red fire engine; there is an Angel Tree where I work from which I will choose a tag to purchase gifts for children; and during the United Way drive in October, I renew my monthly pledge, which I direct to be donated to our local YMCA for under priveledged kids to have their program fees paid. These are just a few of the opportunities available for share the abundance with which we’ve been blessed.
This year I am in nursing school at one of the best medical schools in the world, we are planning to collect money and buy small gifts to make baskets for the children at the children’s hospital. We are going to put the baskets together and deliver them on Christmas Eve. I am so excited because of course I had to make a quite a few homemade touches for the baskets (still in progress by the way). This is the first year I think that I have actually participated in the charity rather than just donating money or a gift. It feels really good to be a part of something like this.
One of our favorite things to do every year is for each of the kids to pick a pesent for a child at our local Ronald Mcdonald house. I also put together a wishes board at our elementary school so the teachers can write up wishes that kids and parents can gift to their classroom.
God is calling me to help a young missionary meet his finicial goal for this year. I will also be helping babysit for a young couples bible study so they can meet without worrying about a babysitter.
We are helping with Angel Tree this year for the children of incarcerated parents.
We go w/my husband’s company to the Child Protective Services offices & wrap gifts for children who are in their system. Their over-extended social workers would have to do it otherwise. I’m glad that all those children get gifts, but it’s nice to give them the joy of wrappings to tear off — it just increases the experience for the kiddos.
I have three friends that I have had much fun with over the years. We used to buy each other Christmas gifts, but several years ago decided to pool the money and buys gifts for children who would not otherwise receive gifts through a program called the “Angel Tree”.
Love all your new stamps and dies. At Christmas our church has a tree of names and wish lists of children and adults who are in need. We choose one and try to make this holiday special for them.
We like to give to Toys for Tots and the Salvation Army!
We participate in Blue Santa. Some years we only donate, some years we deliver as well. We also help with providing gifts to families in our church.
I usually find a giving tree and choose one or two children to buy for.
Send a donation to St. Jude. We have a big drawing with prizes to the bus kids in our Junior Church class every year at Christmas.
The comments of what others will or have done is so inspiring! My work place usually holds a food drive, which I will be participating in. However, this year I would love to do something that involves this amazing craft. Recently, I’ve did a make ‘n take at my local craft store and found out that, at the end of the month, they’re schedule to participate in a charity event to raise money for breast cancer. I’d like to get involve … if the timing is not right, maybe I could come up with an idea for a make ‘n take.
I would like to work with the Care and Share in town to help provide some food for the homeless and the needy in our community.
We try to give a little more during the holidays – sending money to our favourite charity, wrapping gifts to give to a needy child in the community, and doing gift baskets for families in our church who might be a little strained at Christmas.
There is a “tag tree” at our church and each year our church and the other church in town “adopt” families to give gifts to, who might not otherwise be able to have gifts at Christmas. We plan to take a tag from the tree and buy a gift for our anonymous neighbor.
I’m finishing up some cards and tags that I will be donating to the local senior center(s) in town. All of my creativity has been inspired by PTI – thanks!
I have been sending cards to OWH (Operation Write Home) ever since you had Sandy on your blog. It was such a great idea and the soldiers all need to send cards home to their familes.
I want to send Christmas cards to my Mom’s friends who were always kind and thoughtful when she was alive.
carol b
This year I will be doing the same thing I have done for the past 4 years. We will be opening our homes to American missionaries living in overseas locations for Thanksgiving. Right now I have about 25 people coming to my home for Thanksgiving dinner. All but 8 of them will be staying at my house for at least 3-4 days. I love giving our missionary friends a taste of home at this time of year. It is something we all look forward to…
Beautiful holiday sets! I especially love the diagonal stripes.
I’ll be making donations to a few favourite charities including our local foodbank.
I was unsure of what I was going to do this year, after reading one of the comments above and how much I love to make cards I am going to make some cards to Operation Write Home (OWH). Probably Valentine’s Day ones though…. 🙂
My husband and I donate gifts to our church to be sent out to children whose families can’t afford Christmas.
We have a local toys for tots kind of organization that I love to purchase for. I like to do toys for a girl and a boy. It definitely gets me in the spirit!
I hope to donate some holiday cards to card drives and also I donate around the holiday time to a homeless shelter and another non-profit dedicated to helping women get back on their feet.
We like to go around the neighborhood and my 5 and 7 year olds and I shovel sidewalks – we try to do it when they aren’t home some it is a surprise and leave a little something for them too.
Great question! Every year, I make up a shoebox, or two, filled with small gifts and essentials for Operation Christmas Child. The boxes are given to children in very poor areas of the world, and is often the only Christmas gift the receive.
We support our local Salvation Army throughout the year but give a little more during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. They are a wonderful, caring organization.
One of the things we really love to try and do each Christmas is the Angel Tree for Salvation Army. My girls love shopping for other little kids and knowing that we can help bring a smile to a child’s face on Christmas morning is the best feeling. 🙂
Every year my co-workers and I “adopt” a family from out local Rape and Abuse Crisis Center. We get a list of items the family would like to have with gender and ages of all the family memebers. Then we divide the list up and purchase those items, making sure everyone in the family gets exactly what they want.
My card making club will be donating all of our cards to troops in Afghanistan this month. And I’m planning to get a few presents wrapped for kids in need this Christmas.
I plan on playing in some breast cancer themed card making challenges and sending my cards to a cancer center.
My family buys and gathers all year for the Christmas shoe boxes. Each of us decorates and fills a shoebox for a child in need , with toiletries and toys and goodies and then take them together to processing facility. We prepare all year for it, its the perfect way to start the Christmas season–serving others.
My office adopts two of our families who are doing well, but are in need. We take care of everything from a hearty holiday meal, to presents for all the family members. This is such a great question. I can’t wait to read all the responses.
My kids and I decorate pairs of socks in little paper wrappings for the inmates at the local jail.
This year, our fellowship will be planning to make Christmas cards for fundraising to sponsor members to the Winter Conference Retreat. Last year, we were able to sponsor $60 for each person so we’re very excited for this year!
I donate thru church and work.. we make sure that families have great meal and some gifts under the table.
I love to volunteer to wrap presents at the mall. Everyone loves giving gifts, and to see them excited about their finds is so much fun! Plus I get to create beautiful packages for a good cause!
I belong to a ministry where we make cards for the caregivers of the children whose parent is in prison. Each year we make about 180 cards for these wonderful people to show they are not forgotten. I also love to make tags for the ladies in my womens’ bible study group.
Our charitable act for the season is the same since a couple of years. We do “Christmas in a shoe box”, which means we are putting some toys, used but in very good condition, some sweets, some clothes, simply things like toothbrush etc. in a shoe box. These shoe boxes are collected until mid November and than sent to kids in Romania, a very poor European country. Our boxes also get a nice stamped Christmas card. And what is so encouraging – some of the kids sent you a letter back, just saying thank you. thinking of the big smiles on their faces makes me happy.
I have already been cleaning out our toy stash and donating those items as well as donating some of my craft stash. Since I usually end up with more Christmas cards than I need, this year they will be sent overseas and/or given to a food pantry to be handed out for holiday meals…
I love all of the responses that I read through. It makes me so happy that in a world with so much hate, mean-spiritedness, bullying, etc., that there are still so many with love and kindness! After reading your responses, I feel like I don’t do nearly enough. We always get an Angel and buy some little child that is less fortunate some Christmas necessities and some presents. I’ve always wanted to work in a soup kitchen during the holidays, so this would be the perfect time to start!!! Thanks, PTI, for reminding us that thinking of others all year long, and especially during the holidays, is the best Christmas present and the biggest blessing I could ever get!!!!
I really try to do my share of charity throughout the year. The most important person that god put in my life died of ALS, that was my Dad. Now that my grieving for him is no longer front and center of my life (it’s been 3 1/2 years) I want to do a lot more in finding a cure on this horrible discusting sick disiese that robs you from the ability to move, eat, speak, and breathe and is AWAYS 100% fatal usually in 2 to 5 years. I plan to sell my cards to give to the ALS society.
I will be putting together Thanksgiving baskets for our local home bound seniors. I love to include a few home made elements, like a card, and now–a fancy gift card holder using my new pillow box die.
We’ve started the tradition of buying toys when we see them on sale, and collecting a pile to donate to our local Christmas Bank… I have my oldest (and this year will be the first for my youngest) come with me to drop off our donation, and explain to her that not all children are as fortunate as she is, and so this is our way of helping those families out, and sharing our good fortune. She loved giving the bag over last year, and she really seemed to grasp (she was only 3) why we were doing it, which made me so proud!
Great question! I plan to donate some of the extra money I’ve earned on overtime at work to a couple of charities in honour of my friend who passed away from cancer. One of them is Daisy’s Dream, which supports children + families affected by cancer (http://www.daisysdream.org.uk)
We always do Shoebox Ministry boxes each year at our church. Also give to some neighbor children who don’t have much.
I donate thru church and work, we make sure that families have a great dinner and some gifts under the tree. Sometimes I wished I could do more.
Our extended family will again be adopting a family for Christmas rather than exchanging presents with each other. It’s so much nicer than buying presents for people who already have a lot.
We do the Angel Tree at our church every year. You take a tag off the tree and get the person on the tag a gift. I love the new stamps! 🙂
My bakery will provide goodies for the volunteers of the local Christmas Daddies Charity event and raise funds for the charity at our local market.
As a family we like to pick off the Angel Tree at church. We try and get several children of different ages. My children are older and I try to get them involved with the buying. We also try and do for a family at school where I work.
Now that my children are getting a little older, I thought it would be fun for us to do a shift as Salvation Army bell ringers. They’ve always been intrigued with them, and I think they would enjoy being on the “other side”.
Our neighborhood adopts a family in need each Holiday season. We shop for the kids and Ill make a box of personal greeting cards for the Mom. A little something to let her know we care. Even my boys get in on this project. They put away 1/3 of their allowance each week to go towards charity. At the end of the year, they love to see how much they can buy for these families that are struggling to have happy holidays.
We always participate in the giving tree in our local community. We buy gifts for children in a certain age group, so they will have a Merry Christmas.
We donate every Christmas to the Caring Cupboard in our local town , plus thru my hubby’s work we adopt a needy family and fill their wish list and donate food to prepare Christmas dinner
My sister and I find a needy family and then gift contributions from work to make sure this family has food on the table for Christmas dinner and wrapped gifts under their tree to open. We have been doing this for about 10 years now and we look forward to it every year.
Every year my father says he does not want a gift but wants me to choose angels instead. My mom and I go and pick a number of tags and then shop shop shop. It’s become a tradition.
I donate money at the grocery store that goes to our local Food Bank, and they ask if we’d like to round up our purchase to the next dollar and that is also donated to our local Food Bank.
At work we have many charitable events including Think Pink, serving food at the mission and I will be helping with these events. It’s team work which I love and helping other which is such a blessing!
Last year our children’s department at church made around 100 Christmas cards. I had a simple layout pre-cut and ready to go with various border stickers, dimensional stickers and embellishments so that the kids could make the cards ‘their own’. After church one Sunday we went to a local nursing home, passed out our cards along with a candy cane, while we caroled and jingled bells. It was a hit, and we will be doing it again this year!
I will be helping out with my church on feeding the less fortunate this upcoming Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve. The best gift I can give!
All of the new stamps and dies are amazing! I’m keeping my fingers crossed!! 🙂
hugs…
Our Ronald mcdonald house needs support, so our church organization has signed up for a nite in dec.. We will be bringing in dinner for the parents staying there and decorations… We are also bringing in small toys for each child and we are making many cards to leave there for parents to use on there card lists..
My hubby and I are very strong supporters of Toys for Tots every year. Thanks for the chance to win!
I cook for Meals on Wheels once a month. I love to decorate cute cupcakes in a Christmas motif to pack them into the shut-ins lunch container. I also Read to the Blind and it gives me a good feeling to know that people who love to read have the opportunity to hear good literature through our public library system.
We always give gifts to Toys For Tots, we will donate to the food and toy drives the kids schools have.. and donate to the adopt a family that they do at my hubbys work..
Love the new release stuff.. looking forward to shopping!
Well, this year I plan on donating to the local food pantry. There are so many people that do not have as much as I do and I want to help out. Great new collection and, now it is time to shop.
Every year there are seniors living in local nursing homes who don’t have family nearby. Some don’t have any family at all. So they jot down a few little things they want or need, a radio station collects their lists, and then creates an “angel tree”. We always grab 2 or 3 names and have the most fun shopping for these very special people. Imagine how good they feel, when a complete stranger remembers them at Christmas!
— Connie C.
We pick a family and secretly deliver gifts for the 12 days of Christmas. Our kids love keeping it a secret!
Each year several people from my work participate in a program run by our local hospital, where you select the name of a child from a family in need and purchase something from their Christmas wish list. Each child in the family gets to make a list and it’s always such fun when we have a room full of gifts that we hand out as the families arrive!
We donate sandwiches, blankets, personal necessities, etc. to the homeless at Thanksgiving.
Great release this month!
Chris L.
i will be donating canned goods for holiday baskets to be given out to those in need by a local center. thanks.
Every year we receive so many solicitations from organizations who are in need. Since we can not afford to donate to everyone of them, I sit down with my children (some of them now adults) around thanksgiving time and we take a look at all the organizations that we have received information on as well as some organization that my children bring to the table with them. Then we ask each one of our children to choose an organization that they feel strongly about and we (my husband and I) make a donation in their name as one of their Christmas gifts. We have been so blessed by this family exercise. I learned so much about my children’s likes, interest and hearts by watching them go through this process with us. They have learned to look outward to others in need. I received a great blessing this year by having my 10 year son come to me recently to tell me who he had already selected as his organization for this years donation.
every year my husband and I make a donation to toys for tots and donate to our local food bank
All of the new products are awesome! Every year, I put together a gift pack for children that are less fortunate through my work’s ‘Wish Tree’ project. I am sure I will do other things as well, just haven’t figured them out yet! 🙂
What an awesome, thought provoking question!
I’m looking to pay it forward in as many ways as I can…donating time, talent and money to local shelters and organizations as well as simple things like picking up the tab of the car behind me in the drive through lane.
I’m also in the process of setting up a plan of attack for making and mailing 365 cards…one for each day of the year. Who doesn’t love snail mail?
Our family watches for families in our community who need help or need just a boost and then we secretly drop food or meals on their door step. My boys love doing this anytime of the year!
My friends in Bible Study will choose a family to reach out to and buy gifts, food, etc. for this Christmas. Love reading about all the different ways your readers share with others.
At my work we have several charitable donations, which I give to for the poor. We donate to a unfortunate faimly for Christmas which I buy a toy or clothing to give to and we also donate food for the needy, which I also give to. We do this all year long, not just at Christmas. Great release this month and the project were outstanding as usual!!!
I plan on participating in our churches “Turkey Bowl” which is a 5on5 flag football tourney. All proceeds go to purchasing Thanksgiving meals for the low-income and poor in our community. No, I won’t be playing flag football but volunteering at the event!
I plan on sending some cards to soldiers in need, especially those who are far away from home. It means so much to them!
Making some crochet baby blankets for the hospital … maybe for a baby born on Christmas day???? I am new to crocheting and I have one baby blanket done and am working on another.
Loving all the new stamp sets! This year we will be filling some boxes for Operation Christmas Child. We also donate toys for my husband’s work giving program.
My family always fills shoe boxes through our church for children in Africa. You send some necessities like soap and toothpaste. And then my children pick out some small toys to tuck in as well. It makes them feel so good!
I will serving my two neighbors in anyway I can find – One with her first child and the other a mom of 7 who is very busy. I love them both and am looking for ways to brighten their days. 🙂
As my kids get older, we will be making a donation in their name as part of their Christmas gift. We will also be volunteering at a local shelter during the holidays.
During the upcoming holidays, I plan to increase the number of cards that I donate to Operation Write Home. I also would like to create more individual cards with personal messages from me, for the troops.
My husband and I donate to several organizations during the holiday season. Joyce Meyer.org does amazing work here and abroad. We are also very fond of Toys for Tots. One thing we really enjoy doing this time of year however, is when we go out to eat, we love leaving an extra large tip on the table when we get up to leave, or paying for someone else’s meal. We are rarely there to see the reaction of the recipient, but it does our heart good to know that we could have made someone else’s day. 🙂
Another amazing release!
Another great release! Thanks for the opportunity to win some PTI spending money.
Our family always supports the food bank and Toys for Tots.
Every year, my husband and I pray and ask God to show us a family that He wants us to help financially, and anonymously. We just want to show God’s love to others. We also do other charitable acts, but this one is most special.
We help a community center with their ‘Santa Day’ for area children. The center takes family photos along with Santa and the families cherish these as this might be their only family photo they have.
We’re going to do Secret Santa for a family in need. We do it every year, and my kids love picking out gifts for other kids more than getting gifts of their own!
I love giving a holiday crafting party where we all make cards for the Operation Write Home organization that sends cards to troops overseas. It’s a fun time to get together and a good cause. I plan the party for making VALENTINES, since to meet the deadlines for OWH, you have to prepare & send in advance anyway! 🙂
We will again be delivering gift and food baskets to families in need in our community for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
I plan to make Christmas cards and donate to a local charity shop.
Every year I make donations in my parents’ and in-laws’ names to their local food banks. None of them ever want anything and the don’t need anything either, so this is their “gift”. Sometimes I mix it up and donate to the Red Cross but it’s hard to argue with feeding hungry people.
My husband and I donate several times a year to the Water Street Rescue Mission in our town and we will give something during the holidays also.
Every year I buy a goat through Heifer International. They give it to someone in a third world community. I choose a goat because of its size. It’s easier to feed and house than a cow. The family drinks and sells the milk. The family uses the hair for weaving cloth. The offspring are sold to other families etc. I feel Heifer Intl. is a worthwhile organization and I am able to do a small part for someone on the other side of the world. At home, I buy a toy for Toys for Tots.
I am actually doing two volunteer events that are making me very happy! First of all, I will be putting in about 60 hours or my time in one week to help raise money for an organization that counsels young people that have been abused, physically, mentally, sexually, etc. We will be setting up Christmas trees and raffling them off to raise money for this very deserving organization. I have also been collecting change all year long to give to someone who could really use a hand this holiday season, hopefully, it will have between $150 – $200 in the jar, we won’t count it because we don’t want to know how much is in there, we just want to know that it will go to someone who really deserves it.
If God is willing. We will be donating toys for underprivilage children.
Love the new products!….makes me very excited for the holidays! Praying for a family that has some special needs this holiday season….hoping to bless the family God brings!
I am planning to make some food donations, and hopefully participate in the Angel Tree we do at our church.
I am truly blessed, and during this time of year is a great time to pass on the blessings. Our company sets up Angel Trees around our campus. I love shopping for other people, so it’s a win-win when I grab a few! It’s a great feeling knowing that I’m fulfilling a child or a family’s Christmas wish.
Every year some of my girlfriends and I decorate a tree in these. grade school in a near y town. Most of the kids come from low income families. We fill it with sox and mittens and caps. My kids and I go toy shopping ( and now their kids) for toys . Our town has a toy drive organized by either the police or firefighters.
Our BSA Troop always collects for Toys for Tots, so I enjoy buying for that since our baby is 21 and a lot harder to buy for. 🙂 After seeing Dee in NH’s post (Thanks, Dee!), this year I will be making tags to add to the Toys for Tots donations, while I am making cards for our troops overseas.
My husband works at a Federal Penitentiary, and every year they set up an Angel tree to provide Xmas presents for the inmate’s children. It is a great opportunity to share with our own kids how blessed we are and how important it is to be a good citizen.
Besides donating food for Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday baskets for the less fortunate, we also will choose several tags from our GIving Tree at church. Plan to be home this holiday season (unlike others) so plan to volunteer to help distribute these gifts to the families in need. What a heartwarming question!
We are donating to the local elementary school’s giving tree to help a family in need. We also give to Toys for Tots, and donate to just about every Salvation Army bucket we see.
We always go and pick two names off the tree at Kmart and then replace them with two presents and after seeing the joy on my 86yo mother in law face (she has dementia) after she had been given a chocolate I’m thinking that I might box up a few cute favours for all of the dementia residents at the nursing home.it really was something to see, my Christmas came early just seeing her face even though she couldn’t remember that you eat them.
We participate in Christmas for Everyone which is a gift giving program through the local Salvation Army. We usually pick children that match the age/sex of our kids and take each of our kids out one evening to shop for the boy/girl they have been given.
I plan to bake some cookies and send them to orphanage as x’mas gifts, hope to share the warmth and happiness for the festive season.
We participate in Operation Christmas Child and prepare shoeboxes with health items, small notebooks, crayons, toys, candy and apparel items. It’s fun and challenging to see how much we can get into one box! It’s one of our favorite charitable activities we do as a family.
My husband and I identify a local family going through especially hard times and donate to them the money we would have spent buying gifts for each other. The appreciation we see is far better than any present we could ever open!
Every year in December, we go thru all the kids toys, and we donate all the good toys and clothes to our local orphanage… We also buy some sweeties and cookies to take with… It is good for our kids to realise that there are a lot of children who are less fortunate than them, and that they need to give back as well…
I don’t have a plan yet… in the past I’ve supported Chuck Colson’s ministry that purchases toys for children whose parents are in prison. We have two new grandchildren, giving us a total of 14 now!!! So blessed… so not sure how much will be left after purchasing them a gift! lol So very thankful for all the charities geared toward blessing the children.
I will start making cards to send to Operation Write Home. I have been meaning to do this and your question gave me a kick start!
We give a donation to a free medical clinic as gifts for friends/family in memory of their loved ones they have lost during the past year.
Our church helps serve a meal to the homeless the second Saturday in December, and my family and I have participated in this event for the past six years. It is a humbling, yet rewarding experience.
We are coordinating homemade casserole donations for the local hospice facility. These are for the families, to help keep body and soul together when a loved one is dying. Of course I am also working on an Operation Christmas Child shoebox full of goodies, so a little girl in some poor corner of the world will know how much Jesus loves her!
I always donate to Toys 4 Tots, every year!
My county has their own sort of toys for toys program. i had to use it before one year when i had my daughter and two nephews to take care of.on about 600 dollars a month. so every year since then i pick a child or two from the program to buy gifts for.I also crochet baby hats and a few blankets to donate to the hospitals birthing center.
My mom and I {I am her caregiver} enjoy making shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child.
We have been writing a check to local food bank for years. We will continue the tradition this year too.
Every year we participate in Operation Christmas Child, a program sponsored by Samaritan’s Purse. We fill shoeboxes with clothing items, toys, toiletries, candy, etc and they are sent to countries where the children have nothing and no hope of celebrating Christmas.
We have a “giving tree” at church – we take at least one tag that includes the name of a family in need and buy presents for all of them
I take part in the Samaritan’s purse Operation Christmas Child. Christmas shoeboxes are filled and sent to countries overseas. Also our church has a Care Card ministry. I head up a group of ladies that each receive 2 names per month. We then place a “Care” card to that chosen person/family into their mailbox. This is an all year project.
My husband and I are serving the homeless in our community regularly – especially now that it’s getting colder. Warm blankets, socks with no holes, gloves and hats, and a few hot meals can go a long way.
Donating to my favorite charities, food drives, and the giving tree at church.
I’m involved in a few card drives for seniors and I donate to the Snowsuit Fund which provides warm winter clothing to children in need.
My dh and I volunteer at a local Senior Centre.
We donate to the food bank throughout the year but at the holidays donate a whole meal.
I’ll be passing out treat bags to the children at the Women’s and Childrens shelter. Also, I volunteer at the local animal shelter to help socialize puppies and kittens to prepare them for adoption (actually, this very beneficial to me as well since I get to play with puppies and kittens whenever I want !)
Happy Holiday Season for All. I am volunteering at a community garden and baking for a local respite for families of patients in the hospital.
We like to go to the nursing home in our town and sing Christmas carols. I think it’s important to teach my kids about how important small acts of kindness are; it may mean something huge to the person on the receiving end when you give up your time to be with them.
I am in a knitting group that knits for several charities. We provide chemo caps, new born hats, and hats and scarves to teen shelters. In addition, for the holidays, we knit hats and scarves for the homeless people that go to St Anthony’s Kitchen in San Francisco for their meals. My husband and I work at our local food pantry twice a month year round.
We have a Giving Tree project at our church for less fortunate children,elderly shut ins and those in need. This year I plan not only to purchase items needed,but also take part in delivering them.
I have already started–yesterday I made Christmas tags to be sold at an auction in my hometown benefiting the local senior citizen center. I plan to do treat boxes for my team at work (got the pillow-box die from last month so make them all look nice)and I just got the email about our company’s angel tree, which I usually support. As we get mature we realize the holidays areso much more about the giving than the receiving!
Dontating to our local food bank and donating to and making cards for a local charity that delivers cards and gifts to developmentally disabled adults who are on their own.
Thanks for another wonderful release!
In addition to volunteering at a retirement home year round, just prior to the holidays I will be helping out at a local food bank and toy distribution centre. There are so many ways to help out during the holiday season!
When we had to put down our dog a couple years ago, we wanted her cremated and our local Humane Society took care of that for us. So we like to send in a nice donation to them to help out with whatever they need to put it towards for all the animals that they care for.
I am planning on signing up to work the two days that the kindergarden I work in are open during the Christmas holiday, so that most of my colleagues can take time off to go home and be with their families =)
I’ll be passing out treat bags to the children at the Women’s and Childrens shelter. Also, I volunteer at the local animal shelter to help socialize puppies and kittens to prepare them for adoption (actually, this very beneficial to me as well since I get to play with puppies and kittens whenever I want !)
I usually donate a gift from the giving wreath at my church. I also try to participate as much as I can in making things for our church to donate for our humanitarian projects each month.
At work they are having program to adopt a family and provide presents for them at Christmas time. I plan on signing up for this – looking foward to this!
I sell cards as a side hobby . I plan to sell cards this season and donate sales to a local charity that helps people who can’t afford to pay for their pets’ medical care.
We are going to adopt a family this year to give presents to, I also send cards to the soldiers to send back home to family members……….. so many new goodies – so little time!
A friend of mines church has a craft show in the fall, someone from the church gave a group of women $20.00 each and told them to make or buy something to sell and double that $20.00. The money will help families in need during the Christmas season. I have volenteered to make her kitchen scrubbies, I think she will at least triple her $.
I will be buying a gift for a less fortunate person in our community that our church sponsers also buying things to fill a shoebox for Samaritians Purse Christmas Shoebox Program. Also giving $’s to the local homeless shelter to provide Christmas dinner for all those people coming for a Christmas meal.
We are planning on creating shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child through our church. My kids are excited to help fill the boxes for children in need around the world.
Every year at Christmas through our church, we give gifts to the ladies and children at the abuse shelter here in town. Two or three times a year we make a donation to Heifer International to provide income livestock to villages around the world and to The Water Project to provide clean drinking water around the world.
Actually, my family does a charitable act each year for the holidays. Many years ago we realized that we were all blessed very much and that we should do something for others at Christmas instead of for one another. So, instead of a gift exchange, each person who wants to participate sends $25 to the family fund.
In addition to that, at our family reunions (every other summer), we have a family auction where we all make something and then we buy it from one another. (I, of course, make cards!) And, the money we collect also goes into the family fund.
Then one person from the family is selected each year to support an underprivileged family or the like for the holiday season. When it was my year to get to to do this, I got a family from the Salvation Army and was able to provide a nice Christmas to a single Mom and her four children. Other years, many angels were taken from trees and gifts purchased for those children. Another year, we supported many of the elderly in a nursing home in North Carolina.
To me, giving is what the season is about and I’m proud to be part of a family with the same values.
We always do two shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child.
Our church is offering the “Operation Christmas Child” program, a global outreach to children. You fill a shoe box with small toys, crayons, hygiene items, clothing, etc, and these boxes get delivered to children around the world. The most important thing is that the Gospel Message is presented to these children who might not otherwise hear about the love of Jesus. I just dropped off my filled boxes (1 for a boy, 1 for a girl) at my church yesterday. 🙂
I will be donating food for the food baskets through my church for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I will also be making other donations during the season.
My Mom is in a nursing home and so many residents there have no visitors. This Christmas I plan on purchasing small gifts for each resident and making beautiful tags with each person’s name.
My daughter-in-law adopts a family through her work and provides them with gifts for a family for Christmas. I always help her to do this. She braves the crowds at midnight on black Friday to be able to provide them with more things. I get to spend that time watching her daughter so she can do this. We make cookies for the family on that evening also.
gettin’ inky…
I like to choose a few tags from the giving tree at our church, then go shopping for a special gift for the child that each tag represents (gender and age).
I have a specified amount each year of five, ten and twenty dollar bills that I randomly hand out to people..just because. The look on a young persons face as you hand them a bill as your leaving the drive through window is priceless.
I love to sing, and I am also a teacher. So going singing at nursing homes and hospitals is something that is particularly rewarding for me and my students.
Each year at the end of the winter season, when the stores are having super clearance sales, I buy a bag full of mittens and gloves. I save this for the following year to donate at my church ~ they always do a scarf, glove & mitten drive.
Last year we were got a secret Santa. This year we want to pay it forward, but instead of giving the daily presents to just one family, we want to see if we can do a similar activity for the Child Crisis Center, it is very close to home. In case we can´t, our plan B is making lots of clean and simple card to donate to the same place.
I hope to make some Christmas pillow cases for a local Children’s hospital. I have a daughter that has had to have seven operations so it is something that is near and dear to my heart. Thank you so much for the chance to win!
i always buy books for children during the holidays. an imagination is worth a million toys.
My kids love volunteering for Operation Chrismas Child. My daughter usually helps all week packing boxes and then my son will help load the bigger boxes into the containers. It warms my heart that my kids are learning to serve.
Every year the local school organizes a Christmas event and I will be giving treats for their lottery as well as items for the children to buy for their parents’ Christmas. All the proceeds go to a charity of their choice.
I will be participating in a bake sale where the proceeds will be used to help fund research to discover treatment and a cure for Friedreich’s Ataxia (FA). A friend of my daughter in law has this disease.
Our organization adopts a school all year. At Christmas we donate new or gently used items for a Christmas Bazaar so the students can ‘purchase’ gifts for their families for the holidays.
I am making sets of cards to be auctioned off to raise funds for a philanthropy that supports education for women. It is an annual holiday auction of all homemade items…make it, bake it, sew it, grow it…and a lot of money is typically raised. Most of the items are purchased to use as Christmas gifts or hostess gifts.
We always take angels off the Salvation Army tree and enjoy shopping for them. That’s one way that my son and I are able to bond together while helping other people
My husband and I will donate to a number of the many local charities that help to feed, clothe, and provide shelter for those who are struggling.
I sell cards through our church. The church keeps part of the proceeds to help keep the bookstore running. This year I am going to donate my share to the Episcopal Guild of St. George outreach program for needy families in our area. Let’s pray that it is a productive season for me and that my cards sell!
We will be donating to the local food bank through the holiday season as well as raising money for the food bank through a program featuring local writers and musicians.
We plan to put a Chriistmas hamper together for a family in need….It will be a great tradition to start with my 2 year old.
Our family adopts a family for the holidays. We provid gift cards for Thanksgiving & Christmas dinner. We also provide gifts for the family.
We have an angel tree at work. Most of the young kids picked off quickly but a bunch of older ones are left behind…so that’s what I’m going to be doing. Shopping for some toys for those older kids.
I coordinate a meal for the local homeless shelter each November. Our family also picks an angel or two from our church’s Angel Tree project.
As a family we gather our funds and adopt a family that needs assistance. Usually one with small children so we shop for gifts for them and provide food for the holiday dinner. Giving in this way teaches our children the importance of helping others and how to spread Christmas cheer.
Every Christmas we give to a child whose family cannot provide gifts. Usually, we try to pick a boy the same age as my son. This helps my son think of what Christmas would be like with no gifts, and what we can do for others to make a difference. Being the same age as the recipient, he is able to help decide what the child may want and what will make his Christmas special.
Every Christmas is different. Sometimes we help one child in a family, sometimes we help the whole family. There are many ways to help others at Christmas – this is one of the ways we choose to help.
I plan on working a local craft show that supports the local children’s league. I also plan on serving meals at church.
I will be sewing lap quilts for Operation Quiet Comfort which provides quilts to injured military personnel.
My husband is a postman who delivers to a nursing home. While talking to someone there he discovered many of the residents never received anything at Christmas. So every year one of the staff puts together a list for wishes from these residents. We try our best to get everyone on that list something they want. Their requests are simple in nature and very easy to obtain. I always get a kick out of seeing someone open a pair of socks or booties and be thrilled. That to me is what Christmas is all about.
Of her Christmas gifts, my daughter will get to select a few of her favorites to keep. Together, we donate the rest to less fortunate kids.
I make holiday cards to give to random strangers. We bake Christmas cookies that we deliver to needy families in our community and we donate to Toys for Tots. Always the best part of the holiday for us!
This holiday season,as I have been doing every year since I have been living in India, I will make some cards and tags which will be sold during OWC christmas bazaar and the profit will go to support some charities and help women and children out.
What a humbling experience to read all these answers! This year I will be participating in a United Way workplace food drive and adopt-a-student’s family for Christmas gifts for the children.
Because the last 2 years have been extremely hard for us, the only charitable acts I am able to do is make little treats for the neighbors.
We haven’t decided yet but usually we pick an angel from the tree at church and provide something for a needy family. We wing it every year – just depends what comes along!
Giving a food basket to a neighbor who is out of work.
Several of our local stores have trees where you choose a card and buy a gift for a girl or boy.
During this holiday season, I’ll participate in my work’s annual cheerboard. We do a food drive and usually have 3-4 families that we shop for.
I am volunteering at the food bank, not only for christmas but year round.
I’m sponsoring a race at the Sacred Heart of Jesus School.
I am going to decorate shoe boxes and put personal care items and mittens and socks in them and give them to one of our local homeless shelters.
Our local animal shelter just put a call out to anyone who could volunteer their time and since I am only working part-time I am volunteering my time there. I just wish I could bring all of the animals home with me. I just read “In a perfect world all homes would have a dog (cat) and all dogs (cats) would have a home.” How true.
Our family will participate with our church in a secret santa program. It’s always a good reminder to all of us what Christmas is truly about.
Last year we “adopted” a single mother who lost her job and her 2 kids for christmas. We got them clothes, toys, and food gift cards. We wrapped them and delivered them to the group who then gives them to the family. It was a real great experience for my kids!We plan on adopting a family this year too.
My sorority group always buys gifts for a family that is in need. And I buy a gift from the Giving Tree at Church.
Wonderful release!!! I plan to take Christmas cards and other misc cards to the Nursing Home where my mom resides, and give them to the staff to give out to residents who may not have any family members.
I always take more than one gift tag from the giving tree at church…more like 5 or 6! I take the younger grandchildren to buy these gifts…it is all in the spirit of giving to those who do not have.
we always try to find a family that is in need…and do our best to show them some cheer! it always makes the holiday much more special to focus on serving!!
The preschool where I teach is housed in a church building. Every Christmas we adopt two needy families from the community and provide them the entire family with the items on their need/wish list. My own children love getting involved and shopping for the family. It’s one of our favorite things to do.
We deliver goodies to our local animal shelter! Blankets, treats, extra food, toys…even our furry friends needs a little extra love too. 🙂
I pay attention to others around me and give what cash I have (usually a twenty dollar bill) to people that look like they are down on their luck or in need. Last year there was a mom loading her kids into a beat up older car at the groc