Thursday, May 5, 2011
Charity and Children
The key to teaching generosity is for parents to be a positive model of generosity. Demonstrate generosity in all areas of your life. Then help your children catch the habit.
“Example is the school of mankind, and they will learn at no other.” Edmund Burke
1. Give to your church.
Provide money to young children to give through their Sunday School class or during worship services. But first explain to them why they should give.
“We are the Bibles the world is reading; We are the creeds the world is needing; We are the sermons the world is heeding.” Billy Graham
2. Donate clothes and toys.
Take your children on a survey of their clothing and toys. Select items to give to their church clothing ministry, the Salvation Army or other charity providing to the needy. Allow them to select which clothes or toys they wish to donate. The value of this activity is diminished greatly if you go through their closets for them without their presence. For maximum benefit, get your children involved in choosing the appropriate items.
3. Help a neighbor.
Regularly engage in a service-oriented project. Rake the leaves of an elderly couple. Send “care package” to someone in your community in military service. Bake cookies or bread for a neighbor who has been hospitalized or lost a loved one.
Regularly engage in a service-oriented project. Rake the leaves of an elderly couple. Send “care package” to someone in your community in military service. Bake cookies or bread for a neighbor who has been hospitalized or lost a loved one.
4. Give blood.
Take your children with you so they see you as a model for giving. Talk to them about why you choose to donate blood and what you hope it will accomplish to do so.
Take your children with you so they see you as a model for giving. Talk to them about why you choose to donate blood and what you hope it will accomplish to do so.
5. Make birthdays charitable.
Set up birthday parties as a time for giving to others. Help your child find a cause and encourage children to ask those attending the party to bring a gift for children in need.
Set up birthday parties as a time for giving to others. Help your child find a cause and encourage children to ask those attending the party to bring a gift for children in need.
"The most effective kind of education is that a child should play amongst lovely things." Plato
6. Deliver nutrition.
Build food baskets around the holidays and give them to a needy family suggested by your church. Involve your children in selecting canned goods, fruit, and other treats to include. Decorate the gift package and deliver it together, as a family.
Build food baskets around the holidays and give them to a needy family suggested by your church. Involve your children in selecting canned goods, fruit, and other treats to include. Decorate the gift package and deliver it together, as a family.
7. Change for a difference.
Create a charity jar to be used by the family when allowances are distributed. Invite children to share some of their allowance with others through donating to the jar. As the jar fills, decide as a family where to contribute the contents. Read about various charities on the Internet and share this information with your children to help them make an informed decision.
Create a charity jar to be used by the family when allowances are distributed. Invite children to share some of their allowance with others through donating to the jar. As the jar fills, decide as a family where to contribute the contents. Read about various charities on the Internet and share this information with your children to help them make an informed decision.
8. Help elders.
Do things for the elderly that they have trouble doing for themselves. Pick up sticks in your neighbor's yard after a big windstorm. Mow the grass for Grandma. Wash Grandpa's car. Clean their windows in the spring. Help them plant flowers.
Do things for the elderly that they have trouble doing for themselves. Pick up sticks in your neighbor's yard after a big windstorm. Mow the grass for Grandma. Wash Grandpa's car. Clean their windows in the spring. Help them plant flowers.
9. Have a yard or garage sale.
Engage your child in the process including selecting toys, books, clothing and other items for the sale. With your child decide what percentage of the money received will go to meeting the needs of others and what cause. A lemonade stand or selling baked good during the sale is a good way to engage children directly in the project.
10. Water for workers.
During hot weather buy some bottle water. With your child place the water in a cooler. Then go for a drive around the community looking for construction workers or others exposed to the heat of summer and offer them a drink.
Children are the world's most valuable resource and its best hope for the future." John F. Kennedy
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