Last year was so incredible that we can’t help but ask you to join us again!
For the first twenty five days of the month of December, we invite you to join us in giving a little bit of yourself each day to benefit the lives of others. Of course, this is something that you can do year round, but making a change together is so uplifting! And with nearly 3,000 Frikes on Facebook, imagine the changes we could make in the world with all of our effort!
Remember that giving doesn’t necessarily mean spending. Some of the most generous gifts come more from spent time and energy than money!
To kick you off, here are twenty five fresh ideas meant to inspire giving. Feel free to follow this list, or invent your own.
1) Volunteer to help with projects in your local school district. The kids will love seeing a new face, and you might learn something new!
2) Compliment a stranger or someone you don’t normally talk to often. Kind words are a gift that we have all appreciated at one point or another.
3) Wash your partner’s car for them. If the weather is too cold, grab a garbage bag and clean out the inside!
4) Leave an extra large tip when you go out to eat. You could make the day of someone who is working hard!
5) Drop off your old towels at an animal shelter. Shelters are always looking for odds and ends to fill needs. If you don’t have towels, bring in toys, paper towels, or bleach.
6) Invite a local family over for dinner and make new friends.
7) Clean up your clutter and donate the usable items to a privately owned thrift shop. Not only do you straighten up your own space, but you keep a small business owner open this holiday season!
8) Ask your local soup kitchen if you can help out for a day.
9) Make handmade cards for the elderly in a nursing home.
10) Buy a cup of hot chocolate for a utility or construction worker standing outside in the cold. If you’re lucky enough to live somewhere warm, treat them to lemonade!
11) Donate soap, shampoo, or toothbrushes to a homeless shelter. Even if they are from the dollar store, someone could use them!
12) Offer to clean the home of someone who is elderly, just had a baby, or could use a break.
13) Use your extra yarn and crafting skills to knit or crochet hats for babies at the hospital. Premature babies are often unexpected and parents are not always prepared for their arrival, so extra-small hats could make a big difference without using a lot of yarn!
14) Put your spare change at the checkout into the penny jar, or into the can of a worthwhile cause that someone is collecting for.
15) Sit down with your children and draw pictures for family members. It sounds simple, but it’s a gesture from the heart and loved ones appreciate knowing they are being thought of!
16) Shop local stores for presents or goods. Giving your money to your community benefits everyone!
17) Donate your gently used clothing to a family in need instead of a resale shop. Ask your local church if they have a drop box.
18) Bring someone else’s cart back to the corral at the store. You can help out a busy parent who has their hands full, as well as the employees who have to go out and try to catch them all. You also might be saving the paint on someone’s car!
19) Buy or make hats and mittens and donate them to a preschool or elementary school so there are no chilly kids on the playground this winter!
20) Donate used board games to schools for inside recess or class parties.
21) Offer to post signs promoting a local fundraiser around the town, or help tack up signs of someone’s missing pet.
22) Blog or post on Facebook or Twitter asking people to help one another. Inspiring others to help spreads the love and makes a difference!
23) Donate money in any increment to your local heating oil company and ask them to apply it to an account with a past due balance. Helping someone catch up so they can heat their homes this winter is invaluable!
24) Ask a nursing home if there is a special patient who could use some visitors and try to spend time with them. A mutual friendship is something that can give to you both!
25) Turn off your cell phone while driving, or at least put it in the back seat, the glove box, or in your purse. Doing this every day could make it a habit, and you could give someone the gift of their life- including yourself or your own family!
For more wonderful ideas, check out last year’s project here.
Also, remember that we are giving here at Cathy’s Creations, too! For a limited time, proceeds from all DOTD items will go to people or families in need. If you want more information, please click here!
What could someone do for you to help you? Use your needs to inspire another! What have you done for someone recently that made you feel helpful? The more ideas, the better! Please comment below to share your experience of giving with us!
You could offer to watch a friends child(ren)as they prepare for their holidays.
ReplyDeleteDonate an item to the food Bank or offer to help with an already organized food drive if your funds are short.
Take your recyclables to the bottle depot and donate the funds you get, or even 1/2 of it, to a local charitable organization.
Make an extra pan bake goods and deliver them to a friend or family in need.
Offer to pay for the person behind you in a drive through line. Its amazing what random kindness can do to brighten a day.
Donate blood, with more people traveling around Holidays the need for blood increases.
LC Holt
To add to Cathy's number 11. When you travel & stay in hotels, grab the shampoos and donate those!
ReplyDeleteWe just had the hubby's company party. There are left over gifts. People who didn't come by choice don't get gifts. (Those on shift do.) They were going to donate the gifts to a local charity. However, if I were having to get my gifts from a charity I would be irked at the frivolousness of some of the gifts. So I suggested that we return the gifts and take the $400! and buy for an angel tree in a local store. All the kids on it are teens in foster homes. Hoping to be doing that tomorrow! :)
I have been fundraising for my cousin who has terminal cancer. I was able to raise 2000 dollars for her and her family. They keep thanking me every time I talk to them, but I tell them "dont thank me, you would do it for me". I matched many donations even though I am on disability and a very limited income. But I hope it helps take some stress off so they can enjoy the time they have with her.
ReplyDeleteHeating oil is a highly inflammable liquid petroleum product with low viscosity and mainly used as fuel in furnaces in buildings or boilers used for residential and commercial purpose.
ReplyDeleteHeating oil Peabody