Make The Holiday Season More Meaningful This Year
“What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store? What if Christmas…perhaps…means a little bit more?”
Grinch, Dr. Seuss
It’s easy to get wrapped up in the business of the holidays and forget that for many, Christmas can be a difficult time. Many people struggle with loneliness, poverty or poor health. Whether you are five or eighty-five, the true joy of the season can by found in reaching out to others and sharing what you have.
December is the perfect time to:
- Visit someone who is lonely.
- Add another charge to the Christmas table and invite someone who would otherwise spend the day alone.
- Organize a group of friends or co-workers to collect warm clothing or Ziplock bags of toiletries for our local shelters.
- Invite friends or family over for a craft night. Make small decorations, cards or placemats for the Salvation Army Christmas dinner or Meals on Wheels to add to trays.
- Buy a gift card to a fast food restaurant to give to someone who is hungry.
- Be a secret Santa to an individual or family.
- Knit a warm scarf for someone who may be cold.
- Collect washable blankets and used towels, paper towels or sturdy pet toys for the SPCA.
- Check in with your kids high school counsellor about giving a gift card anonymously to a teen who needs shoes or clothing.
- Give a gift certificate for an oil change to a single parent.
- Offer to do some Christmas shopping for someone who is housebound.
- Organize a baking exchange with friends, but instead of taking the baking home, make up trays to give away.
- Include a child or teen whose family is struggling with poor health in your family’s Christmas activities.
By Virginia Brucker who is the author of Gifts From The Heart: Simple Ways to Make Your Family’s Christmas More Meaningful.
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