During the holiday season, everyone is excited for gifts, food and visiting family. There are more than a few things that you can do rather than expect gifts. There are a lot of people who are less fortunate in the world than you are, and there are a lot of people who need a little bit of help during the holiday season. My hometown has a lot of opportunities to help people in need.
1. Angel Tree
If you are looking for a way to help kids, my church, and a lot of other places, do a special thing to make sure that children get gifts on Christmas morning. Basically, you get a child's name, age, and clothing size, and you buy them gifts for Christmas. Usually my mom takes two children from the Angel Tree and we spend a lot of time buying the little kids presents. We also include clothing, like winter coats, mittens, hats and scarves, along with Christmas candy and sometimes food. This is a great way to make sure that children who are less fortunate have a great Christmas.
2. Volunteer at a Soup Kitchen
In my hometown, we have a place called the Union Mission, where you can go and volunteer to package hot meals to give to people. It is very heart-warming to see these people receive their food, but it also very sad.
3. Donate food to Food Pantries
Pick up an extra can at the grocery store while you are shopping, and take it to your local church, or anywhere that is doing a canned food drive. My old high school used to participate in a canned food drive and a lot of teachers would give out extra credit if you turned in canned food. Canned food is very inexpensive and you could be helping someone.
4. Visit Nursing Homes
You don't even have to know someone who lives there, visiting with people who live in a nursing home would do nothing but brighten their day.
5. Donate to a Clothing Drive
My family typically does this all year round, but during the winter, donating old coats, or even new ones, helps someone out. Clothing drives are really easy to donate to, because you are just giving away clothes that don't fit you anymore or that you don't wear anymore. You can even take them to a place like Goodwill and get a little bit of money for your stuff.
6. Blanket Drive
It's cold in the winter, so some places take blankets, or you can even buy a blanket to be donated. I also know that my church did an event once where all of the kids made blankets and they were donated to the Union Mission.
7. Volunteer or Donate to Animal Shelters
Animals are also VERY IMPORTANT. So volunteering to take them out on walks or to play with them is very helpful. A lot of animals stay cooped up in cages and could use the exercise. Donating food and used blankets to animal shelters also is a big help, because it is expensive to feed and keep all the animals warm, especially in the winter. Fur sometimes isn't as good as a nice fuzzy blanket.
8. Shovel People's Driveways
Especially the elderly who can't get out and do it themselves. If you are shoveling your own driveway and have time, shovel someone else's, just to give them a helping hand. Maybe they'll return the favor.
9. Pay Someone's Toll at the Toll Booth
Often traveling on the West Virginia Turnpike can be expensive. I noticed a lot during the holidays, people will often pay for other peoples tolls. My parents always do that, especially during the holiday season. (Or buy someone's meal behind you in the drive thru at McDonald's, it may start a chain reaction.)
10. BackPacks for Kids
I know a lot of schools do this for kids over the weekend, or during the summer. This could also be a good thing to do during the winter over Christmas break. BackPacks for Kids is often filled with snacks and school supplies. It is also another thing that helps the kids.
The Holiday Season really is the happiest time of year for most of us. In my hometown, more people than not are caught volunteering and taking time out of their days to help others. I learned to love doing this from everyone I grew up around. I really think that it is important to help people and animals who are less fortunate than you are, or who just need a helping hand. So make this holiday season even better by giving instead of expecting to receive.
