The Holidays are approaching and for most of us that now has us running a muck like mad men trying to find the oh, so perfect gift for our loved ones. Sadly as we dash about the stores we are often cursing the crowds and our inability to find even one parking spot after nearly an hour and that holiday cheer seems to be nothing but a distant memory. The holidays all too often turn into a point of stress than that of joy, in the hustle and bustle we have this tendency to forget the actual meaning of the season, one of giving.
As the Executive Director of a non-profit providing services to human trafficking survivors even I need a little nudge here and there. This weekend I took clothing to a local inner city church for part of their Community Dinner and as I spent the day helping community members, many just in search of something warm, others a hot meal and a friend to talk to…I was soon taken back to the real meaning of the season. I had been rushing and rushing all season to just get what I needed done, and yes while I do help those in need on a daily basis, the spirit of the season it’s self had begun to slip me by. Thankfully it got me back to the memories of the true meaning of the holiday. When I was younger we used to adopt a family and I remember begging to be one of the chosen ones to help deliver all the food clothing and gifts…the joy on the face of the families when we’d pull up with a full truck load with everything from the yams to the child’s biggest toy wish. That memory and many others, such as the year my father asked all of his employees at his wood-shop to give up there holiday popcorn tins so that he could buy turkey’s for the local soup kitchen, who’s truck of turkey’s had been robed. As I child I loved trying to over-fill my little milk carton with coins to send to Africa for needy children and each day I got excited if I could steal quarters off my Dad to add to all my pennies. Or how I would dash as fast as I could to the back of the church on the day the put the angles on the tree in search of the boy or girl that I could find the perfect gift for…it really was the best part of the holidays yet how quickly we forget.
Thus as you are running in search of that last minute gift lost in daze of lights and glitter, try not to forget that of so many others who are truly in need this season both right here at home and across the globe. While we cannot single handily bring peace to the world, end poverty, or save the worlds children from suffering, we can all reach out to at least one child and their family this season.
You can start the true holiday spirit right at home…you probably don’t even have to look that far.
Not sure where to look? Call local shelters, food banks, and churches to see where they have a need or if they can put you in touch with an individual or family in need this season. Contact a local charity and see what you can do to help this season…the list will be endless and you will surely find the spirit and joy of the season are much better than the stress and chase for the perfect gift.
Here are a few things you may want to add to your Global Wish List this year:
Here are a few charities that may help get you started:
Please note this is only a small list of charities and organizations that will help you to directly help a child in need, but remember the child in need may be closer than you think. You do not have to have money to make a child’s wish come true, time is a wonderful gift. Remember the child down the street who lives with only an elderly grandparent, the children in need of foster care, the boy down the street who is desperately trying to learn a sport but his single mother doesn’t know how to teach him, the family who this year hasn’t enough to buy presents for their children, etc… The list of possibilities goes on and on, and so do the children in need.
