The Holidays are upon us. This is the time of the year when so many charities receive the bulk of their donations for the entire year. Really it's great if people can give all year long, but we often don't think about that until the holidays are here.
If you'd love to donate to kids and poor families please consider these:
Toys For Tots (by the US Marine Corps) There are Toys For Tots donation boxes already set up all around. Many stories and other business or organizations have these boxes available for you to drop donations into. You can buy some children's toys and drop them in any of those boxes. You buy & donate the toy, so there is no way anyone is syphoning off your donation. Can you imagine the expression on those kids faces when they have some Christmas toys, when otherwise they wouldn't?
If you'd like to do more than give toys, there are always several local charitable organizations on your community. Please check on which ones are the most reputable. You can contact your local state agency set up for children and families. In Georgia, ours is called DCACS (The Department of Children and Family Services). These state government agencies will be happy to steer you to the charities they know do the best job and work with them. Through those charities you can get an entire family to donate to, their clothes & shoes sizes, the toys the kids would like, what needs they have, and donate food. You can even set up or donate their entire Thanksgiving or Christmas meal.
The state agencies can also steer you to the reputable charities that donate bicycles to kids. Discount stories usually have really good low prices on new bicycles and that can make a really super special gift for a poor child that would otherwise never be able to have their own bike. You can even clean up, paint or do whatever you need to, to get your old used bicycle ready and donate that. I mean otherwise that kid may never have a bicycle at all and it can mean so very much to them.
Remember the local food banks also. They need donations all year long, but it's these holidays when they really get them. These organizations give food to poor families and people who can't afford to buy their own food. Often times it might be elderly people living on a very low fixed income or families with kids.
You can also donate your money and time to local feeding ministries and homeless shelters. There are always homeless people who need a coat during the winter. If you ever volunteered at these feeding programs and shelters, you'll realize that a huge number of the homeless people are either mentally challenged or mentally ill and not capable of financially providing for themselves. They usually have no one to turn to for help. Our US government doesn't do anything for the mentally ill but let them wander the streets.
When searching for charities to give to, please do your homework because while many, probably most are very reputable, there are some fraudulent ones out there. I just saw a TV news expose where through the local police F.O.P. program's Shop With A Cop for Kids Christmas, only $10 out of $100 actually is spent on kids. That's is unacceptable.
If you work with and give to the needy, you will not only be helping them, but you'll discover it does wonders for you as a person. If you can't afford financially to give but can donate your time to help these groups, that would really be awesome.
The Linebacker
