Are you looking for some unique, yet simple ways for your family to serve others this Christmas? After all, isn’t that what the holiday season is all about? Here are 5 of my favorite ways for family to give back this holiday season. Which one will you make a yearly tradition?
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Little Free Pantry
Little Free Pantry is similar to the Little Free Library movement you may see popping up in your neighborhood offering loved and used books to children and adults in cute little houses on posts. Little Free Pantry is a similar place for you to share canned goods and boxed food items with your neighbors in need. So, instead of books, friends will find much-needed food items to enjoy and nourish themselves & their families.
Use the map feature on The Little Free Pantry’s website to locate a pantry near you, and then take your family shopping. Pick up your favorite cans of soup & boxed Mac ‘n Cheese…basically whatever pantry items your family loves…and donate them to a Little Free Pantry. It’s an easy way to serve others this holiday season.
Moonbeams For Sweet Dreams
If you live in Southeast Michigan than you may have already heard about Moonbeams for Sweet Dreams that takes place every night in December leading up to Christmas at Beaumont Children’s Hospital in Royal Oak. Neighbors, Family & Friends, Nurses & Doctors, Firefighters, Police Officers, and many others in the community (sometimes even Santa, himself) come together to sing Christmas carols and shine flashlights up into the windows of pediatric patients that happen to the hospitalized over the holidays to wish them sweet dreams.
We have gone every year since it’s beginning, and I never leave without a tear in my eye and the holiday spirit in my heart. It’s so touching to see all of the little patient’s and their families shining lights back at us too. It just reminds me to be thankful for my family’s health, and reminds me that others might be struggling with difficult things during the holidays. It’s a beautiful display of community service that we enjoy every year.
Moonbeams for Sweet Dreams is a simple, easy way to give back with your family. And, if you don’t live in the Southeast Michigan area, look into starting this program at your local children’s hospital.
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Operation Christmas Child
Operation Christmas Child sponsored by Samaritan’s Purse gives you and your family the opportunity to fill a shoebox for a child in need with tiny treasures to enjoy on Christmas Day. These shoeboxes filled with goodies are then shipped all over the world. You can decide what age group you’d like to pack a box for, as well as if you’d like to pack it for a boy or a girl.
Samaritan’s Purse gives instructions and ideas on their website of what to include in each shoebox and where to drop it off at during their drop off week during the third week of November . They encourage you to pray for the child that receives your box, and to even include a personalized note &/or picture for the child as well. You can even donate $9 to get a tracking label so you can follow your box to it’s final destination, making you feel just like Santa!
What a lovely way to give back with your family. This is high on my to-do list every Christmas when we have little ones. I can’t wait to shop for tiny treasures and pray over our “adopted” children throughout the season. And, if you’re strapped for time or don’t live near a drop-off zone, you can pack a shoebox for a child online too!
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Metropolitan Detroit Diaper Bank
Another way to give back with your family this year is to donate diapers to your local diaper bank. In the Southeast Michigan area we have the Metropolitan Detroit Diaper Bank that take donations of baby, child-sized, as well as adult-sized diapers to distribute to those in need throughout the year. It’s a lovely way for your family to serve others this holiday season.
Toys for Tots Donation
Encouraging your little ones to buy toys for other children is another great way for your family to serve others this Christmas. Pick out a few favorite toys to gift to kids in need and simply drop them off, unwrapped, at your nearest Toys for Tots donation box. For more ways to give to the Toys for Tots campaign click here.
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