Some of you who read this may think I am the meanest mom in the world. That’s OK. My kids have already accused me of the same. Those same kids who have 12 aunts and uncles and two sets of grandparents who shower them with gifts each Christmas and on birthdays and at various times in between.
Thankfully, both families now use Kris Kringle/Secret Santa which helps a little, but the pile of Amazon boxes under our Christmas tree is still positively decadent. So this year, the WanderDad and I decided to take the opportunity presented by holiday gift-giving to help our boys to develop a social conscience.
The Seattle Times recently reported startling increases in the number of people using local food banks. The line outside the food bank near my house has grown significantly over the past few months. With this in mind, I researched charities which focus on helping children and families such as Save the Children and UNICEF.
Unfortunately, although donating to these charities is pretty easy, it’s not very child-friendly. BigB is eight, he still needs a present under the Christmas tree and the excitement of opening it on Christmas morning. A little discouraged, but intent on my mission, I kept searching and I found the WWF Adopt-An-Animal program where gift donations come with 12″ soft toys. Perfect.
CAM has chosen to support Tree Frogs and BigB Snowy Owls (I suspect there’s a little Harry Potter influence there). After their initial horror at their crazy parents suggesting “no Christmas presents”, they’ve totally come around to the idea. The cute, plush animals definitely helped. Worth considering for your guy or gal?
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Tags:charitable giving
