Thanksgiving Giving Ideas
by Susan Dunn
 Thanksgiving
is the time of year when we begin to count our blessings, and for most of
us, we realize how truly blessed we are.
Many of us are looking for ways to share our blessings and to reach out to
others. We also look for ways to show our children the true meaning of the
holidays. As a former fundraiser for a homeless shelter, and long-time
marketing consultant in the non-profit sector, here are some ideas of things
you can do, alone, or as a family, to connect during this holiday season.
Call the volunteer director at a charity you'd like to help, and tell them
what you'd like to go. A good volunteer director can fit the bill! At the
homeless shelter where I worked, these kinds of activities were available:
Give a party for the children. Bring simple decorations, refreshments, maybe
some small favors, and spend some times enjoying yourself with the children.
Generally the volunteer director will be there to help. In any of these
activities, it will mean more to you and to the recipients, if you “go
down,” not “send down.” What really counts is your presence, not your
presents. Print out a bunch of these Thanksgiving mazes and take them along:
http://www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/thanks/maze.html .
Bring a group to paint, do carpentry, sort clothing, distribute clothing, or
clean up. Anyone who can do small repairs is very welcome, too.
Provide after-dinner entertainment -- singing, dancing, scripture reading.
Donate toys for children, or toiletry items for adults.
Are you a graphic artist? Work up some graphics suitable for a holiday
donation card for the non-profit. Beautiful designs are always in demand.
Put up a donation container at your office where people can donate canned
goods and non-perishable items and then take them to your local food bank.
Take the children at the local shelter on a field trip somewhere - a local
amusement park or children's museum. The charity will have a vehicle and
send help with you!
Donate tickets to something to the charity - a ball game, a museum, a movie.
Make some decorated placemats with your children and send them over to a
nursing home! Better yet, take them over there, and see if you can bring
your dog along with you. Dogs are wonderful healing companions. (Did you
know they automatically lower the blood pressure - just by their presence -
of hospitalized seniors, healthy college students, a child reading alone in
a room?)
Make some Barking Barley Brownies or Bow Wow Burritos and take them to the
animal shelter. Great recipes here:
http://www.doggieconnection.com/recipe .
Bring a video, some popcorn, some pop and you and your family and/or
friends, and have a movie night or a matinee at a shelter or church.
Donate some time, in accord with your profession, or skills. At the shelter
where I worked, a hair stylist came down cut hair all day long before
Thanksgiving. It was so deeply appreciated.
Another woman who was a consultant gave a "Dress for Success for Less"
seminar for the homeless, featuring outfits from the Goodwill Store.
Here's another great way to help that takes almost no effort at all! Take
part in the Campbell's Chunky Soup Click for Cans™ promotion. Click For
Cans™ is an easy way for you to help your favorite NFL™ team in Tackling
Hunger™ with Campbell’s® Chunky soup! Go to their site --
http://chunky.nfl.com -- and click on your team’s helmet and they’ll
donate one can of a Campbell’s® soup up to a total donation of 5 million
cans. The more times you participate, the more soup gets delivered to
America's hungry. So go back daily, and tell your friends to visit too. One
click per day, per visitor.
Of course it's always popular and heart-warming to go and serve Thanksgiving
dinner at a city celebration for those in need.
And don’t forget to give yourself a gift. If this holiday is difficult for
you – you’ve recently lost a loved one, or you struggle with an alcoholic
relative, or the stress builds up – here’s a site with lots of suggestions
for coping:
http://www.psybersquare.com/thanksgiving/
How about some ideas of things to do with the kids? Here’s a great site:
http://teachers.teach-nology.com/themes/holidays/thanks . There are
crafts, recipes, songs, and learning activities, even computer worksheets
for older “kids”.
Do the “Corn Thing” – here’s how it works. After the table is set for
dinner, put a bunch of kernels of corn in the center of the table (where
everyone can reach). Once everyone is seated, pass a little bowl from person
to person. Each person drops a kernel into the bowl and says what they’re
most thankful for this year. Laughter and tears are practically guaranteed!
At our house, when my sons were younger, we always had a treasure hunt. I
hid clues all over the house, with little poems on them which were often
quite silly and mysterious (“One room, two rooms, three rooms, four; Each
one has a little door; On the door you’ll find a clue; And that is all I’m
telling you!”) and we laughed and had fun going through the house and
finally finding the prize.
Don’t forget those nearest and dearest to you. Is there a grandmother who’d
like a special visit, a lunch out, or a trip to the mall? Is your college
student studying for finals and in need of a care package?
Remember the words of Mother Teresa: “There is a terrible hunger for love.
We experience that in our lives – the pain, the loneliness. We must have the
courage to recognize it. The poor may be right in your own family. Find
them. Love them.”
(c)Susan Dunn is a personal and professional life
coach, here to meet your coaching needs. Visit her on the web at
www.susandunn.cc .
mailto:sdunn@susandunn.cc for FREE ezines.
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