The giving of love is an education in itself. Eleanor Roosevelt
Teaching our children to be compassionate and concerned for people in need can be a challenge for many parents today. Despite tough economic times, most suburban children rarely see people who are homeless, hungry or without adequate warm clothing.
Here are some ways to involve your children to make the ‘Spirit of Giving’ more real to your child.
□ Talk to your child about children and families who do not have money to buy coats, food or toys this year. Help them tounderstand what it would be like for a kid their age to be part of a family who does not have a home, a roof over their heads, heat in their house, or to be hungry all the time.
□ Watch the Bay Area Rescue Mission’s video showing the people they served in 2010. Children are inquisitive and often need to put a face to who they are helping to make it real. Let your child know that together you and your family can do something that will make a difference in a child’s life this Holiday Season.
□ Donate Food. Have your child search your pantry or at the grocery store to select his/her favorite foods—pasta, peanut butter, jelly, soup, canned fruit, beans, etc. Please check the expiration date! Put all the items in a bag and together bring it to our office for the Bay Area Rescue Mission or any local grocery store for food drives throughout Alameda, Contra Costa, and San Francisco counties.
□ Donate Coats. Have your child go through their closet to find gently used coats and winter gear that he/she no longer wears or has outgrown to donate. Put all the clothing in a bag and together bring it to our office or the nearest One Warm Coat collection station. Be sure to remind your child that the coats will help another child stay warm this winter!
□ Donate Toys. Ask everyone in the family if they would like to contribute to purchase a new toy for a child who otherwise would not receive a gift for Christmas. Talk about how old the child might be and what are ideas for a gift for this child. Find a time to take your child to the toy store to purchase a gift. Give yourself enough time to let your child browse and select the “right” gift for this other less fortunate child. This can be a tricky as it is easy to get sidetracked by the toys your child wants/likes and lose track of the mission—to find a toy for someone else. Once you have the toy, bring it by our office or to the nearest Toys for Tots collection station.
□ Create your own donation campaign. Does your child have a passion for animals? Many animal shelters will accept old towels to use for animal bedding. Do you know someone in the military? Collect small gifts, treats, books, and toiletries to send to troops overseas with a handmade card from your child. Does your family have a specific cause they would like to support? Last summer at Roughing It Day Camp our 5th/6th grade girls group decided they would like to do a service project to raise $500 in coins for CARE, a humanitarian organization dedicated to fighting global poverty, with a special focus on empowering women and their families. The group wrote a flyer to send home with each camper and announced their progress everyday at Closing Circle. They even made a paper chain to display every $5 they collected and hung it over the Crafts table as a visual reminder to campers and staff. By the last day of camp the group announced they had collected $514!
We were so proud of the group for initiating this project all on their own and of all our campers for thinking of and doing something for others. We have seen the impact our coat and toy drive has had on families the Bay Area Rescue Mission and Toys for Tots serves and we encourage your family to participate in an act of giving this year. Youcan do one of these initiatives, two or more. The point is to let your child think about who they can help, what they can do to help, and then allow them to assist in collecting and delivering these items with you, so they have a sense of being involved and of actually giving.
Allowing the Spirit of Giving to be a part of children’s lives both during and beyond the holidays helps them to be better citizens of the world and keepers of kindness.
Ann Woods, Director, Roughing It Day Camp
Ways to Join Roughing It in the Sprit of Giving this Season
At Roughing It Day Camp, we have been participating in the One Warm Coat and Toys for Tots collection drives for the past several years. Each year our camp office at 1010 Oak Hill Rd in Lafayette has been overflowing with coats and toys thanks to the generosity of our camper families and neighbors from Lamorinda to Diablo Valley to San Francisco. Last year, we collected 800 coats and 4 large barrels of toys! This year the Bay Area Rescue Mission requested we add a non-perishable food drive for because so many families and individuals do not have enough food to eat and provide for their families. If you have any questions call our office at 925-283-3795 or visit our website www.roughingit.com/spiritofgiving
