This continues our series about awesome charities that serve families – especially children – during the holiday season. This is the twelfth post.

My son Jack loves stuffed animals. He organizes them every night as part of his routine. They are his and only his. He is 8 years old but doing this little ritual still helps him feel safe at night. They, all his. He may not take them all everywhere, but he knows he can count them as part of his “stuff” He is one lucky boy, he has two parents that love him and lots of stuff.

Do you ever stop and think about the kids that have neither.

No, stuff can not replace parents or love, but it can give kids the security that they have something that is just theirs to call their own. I love the charity, My Stuff Bags Foundation. They collect things like, stuffed toys, books, games, toothbrushes and blankets. They put all of the items into a cool blue duffle bag to give to children that enter foster homes and shelters.

Some children actually arrive with nothing!

Remember the Raggedy Ann doll you took everywhere, the teddy bear that you slept with until the buttons fell off, or the baby blanket your parents had to pry from your hands. Think about how much comfort and joy it brought you. These small items make us feel safe, instead of alone in the big wide world. Just having a bag to keep their belongings in reduces the shame and embarrassment of having to carry their things in a plastic shopping bag. Consider giving something for a child to hold onto today.

My Stuff Bags

This continues our series about awesome charities that serve families – especially children – during the holiday season. This is the eleventh post.

Did you know that 15 million children die of hunger every year?  Could you imagine going to bed hungry because you couldn’t find enough food to eat?  Could you imagine seeing a kid ruffle through dumpsters or garbage cans because they can’t find food?  It is incredibly sad to think that so many kids die of hunger when there is so much food to go around.  What is even more sad is that a lot of us throw out food daily and don’t even think twice about it.

This year take some food that you aren’t going to eat or even take extras to the local homeless shelter and help the families there. Imagine how appreciative they will be because they get that extra meal they weren’t expecting.  When my kids are older to help, we will be going to a food bank or local soup house on Christmas Eve or Christmas each year to help those who are less fortunate. I want to make sure my kids don’t take anything for granted.

I think it is a great idea when the kids are old enough to understand to have them help you prepare meals or a gift to take to the those who need it and I bet they would even appreciate the life lessons that they learn in the process.  What can you give this year that will change someones life?

Search for a food pantry in your area.

This continues our series about awesome charities that serve families – especially children – during the holiday season. This is the tenth post.

When my son, Jack was born, we were blessed with so many gifts. I wrote probably 150 thank you notes. One of my favorite types of gifts was the people that took the time to knit or put together a blanket for Jack. There is something truly special about a handmade gift.

Especially one that someone spent hours making!

We still have most of his baby blankets. One of his favorites was made by a customer of ours. It was a fleece blanket. She cut two pieces of fleece and cut the ends so that they could be tied together. Jack loved that blanket. He still loves blankets. He is just that type of cuddly kid. When I read about Project Linus online, I was intrigued. I used to call my baby brother Linus because he carried his own comforter around when he went somewhere.

I think he did that until he was 18!

I love this charity. They have 368 chapters across the US and have delivered over four million blankets. I love how it is not as simple as making a monetary donation or even buying a toy, but you have to plan and actually take the time to create something. If you are not the crafty type, that’s okay, you can make a monetary online. If you make a $100 dollar donation, they will actually send you 4 soft fabric stockings and a book.

Blankets can provide security, warmth and comfort to children who  normally don’t experience this.

Imagine how special that child would feel knowing that someone, somewhere created something just for them.

This continues our series about awesome charities that serve families – especially children – during the holiday season. This is the ninth post.

One of the easiest charities to make a donation to, has to be the iconic Salvation Army red kettle. At this time of year they are hard to miss. It would be pretty hard to do your Christmas shopping without running into at least one or two!

I love that about this charity. There are so many charities out there. This one is visible!

I love how you go out shopping and you may get a little frustrated because someone took your parking place or they ran out of the toy that your child has been begging for.

Then you hear the bell, you see the red kettle and you remember what Christmas is all about. It is not about getting this years hottest toys, or having the best looking Christmas tree. Christmas is about much more than that. I think that it is perfect that most of the red kettles are placed outside of the biggest stores.

We need the reminder!

The idea for red kettle came from Salvation Army Captain Joseph McFee in 1891. He looked around the San Fransisco area and saw so many hungry people. He wanted to do something to help but he had no idea how to fund the idea. He remembered his sailor days in Liverpool England and he remembered seeing a large iron pot placed at the dock where people could drop in coins to feed the poor. The old iron pot was called a “Simpson’s Pot” The very next day he placed a similar pot at the Oakland Ferry Landing. Beside the pot, he placed a sign that said, “Keep the Pot Boiling.”

He soon collected enough money to feed the hungriest people of San Fransisco. The kettle idea has not only spread throughout the US, but internationally as well.

Plan ahead people! Don’t use the excuse that you don’t have any cash. Don’t go shopping without some money to donate! The funds that the Salvation Army collects this season will go to help many people all year round.

Salvation Army

This continues our series about awesome charities that serve families – especially children – during the holiday season. This is the eighth post.

Do you know a single mom who needs some help this Christmas?  Maybe that help could come from you.

I remember the Christmas right after we moved up north.  I spent the day alone – my first Christmas without my five year old son.  It’s one of those awful things about being divorced – doing holidays on your own.

I set up the Christmas tree and placed the one single present I’d managed to buy under it.

It was a Scrabble game.  I’d get to watch him open it the day after Christmas.

I felt like such a loser – but I knew that he was getting lots of great gifts from family so he wasn’t suffering as much as I was.

It’s actually hard to totally get back into the frame of mind I had that Christmas – it was so long ago and the following year I became a Christian – so Christmas took on a whole different meaning after that.

Christmas was still hard financially for many years after that.  What did change was that I’d become part of a great church family.  Every year someone reached out to me to help with Christmas gifts – for my son and even for me. It was so humbling – hard to get used to – but an incredible blessing.

Eventually, my situation changed and I didn’t need help with Christmas.  Now my son is all grown up… and I’m looking around me to find a single mom who needs some help this Christmas.

I encourage you to consider the same.