Helping others will make us all happy.
For most of us, Holidays have become a ritual of giving and receiving gifts - gifts that often end up in the bottom of a closet or in the trash. Let's remember that 'giving' to loved ones during the Holidays doesn't have to equate to over consuming, depleting our resources, or adding stress (and trash) to the environment. By thinking creatively, you can enhance your family’s experience of gift-giving by helping others who are less fortunate, helping our planet to be healthier, and helping our children to grow and learn what it really means to give.
Simple Ideas
- ·Take your children to a local organization where they can volunteer to help others who are less fortunate.
- ·Go online as a family to Oxfam International where together you can choose a specific country and cause to donate money to. It’s a good reminder that there are crises occurring all over the world.
- ·Give a less tangible and more rewarding gift. For example, you can plant a tree in a friend’s name. Tree’s for Life International will plant 10 trees in a developing country for only $10. And since one apple tree can provide more than 10,000 pounds of food in its lifespan, it's a gift that keeps on giving.
- ·Be selfless! For your next birthday, ask people to donate to your favorite organization or to a specific cause as their gift to you.
- ·Feed The Children! Through this non-profit you can feed 3 children in 1 month with a $24 donation. It’s an easy donation to make when you know that every day almost 16,000 children die of hunger-related problems, and in total 1.02 billion people across the world are hungry.
Make others and ourselves happier during the holidays by helping out a little – and of course helping out at any time during the year is a great thing! Author Susan Skog is insightful in her book “The Give-Back Solution: Create a Better World with Your Time, Talents, and Travel (Whether You Have $10 or $10,000).”
