Christmas Charities

I’ve been bummed out that Christmas is so close. I know presents aren’t the reason for Christmas, but sometimes living in the U.S. it is hard to separate materialism from a Christmas celebration. Anyway, with Bryan being laid off since July, there isn’t much money for Christmas presents. (But he had two job interviews this past week so maybe things will start looking up). I’m not too worried about our girls. Right now the only thing Katelyn wants is new underwear and she keeps telling me that Jill wants a new straw cup with handles. So that shouldn’t be too hard. I’m glad they aren’t in the stage of iPods and video games.


I think I’m more disappointed that I can’t give to other charities that I normally give to at Christmas time, and I keep wondering how many other families are in the same situation (i.e. they usually give but with the economic situation this year they just can’t afford to).

Anyway, this is totally last minute. But I thought I would share my two favorite charities in hopes that someone who happens to read our blog might be inspired to give to these charities this year since our family can’t.

The first one is Operation Christmas Child which is sponsored by Samaritan’s Purse. Basically you pick whether you want to buy a Christmas gift for a boy or girl then think of the age group that you would like to buy the gift for. Then you take $20 to a dollar store and buy items such as school supplies, small toys, T-shirt, toothbrushes, combs, hair clips, etc. You want to find enough items to fill a shoe box or a plastic container of the same size. Once the box is filled you take it to your local distribution center (type your zip code on the website link to find the one that is closest to you) with a $7 check to cover delivery. This week is national collection week. Then it is sent to a child in an impoverished area of the world. For most of these kids, this is the only gift they will receive all year. For more information check out: http://www.samaritan.org

My other favorite charity is sponsored by World Vision. They have a Christmas catalog that you pick items such as chickens, goats, seeds, sewing machines, etc. These gifts truly transform the lives of families and can help them provide food for their family or learn skills to get out of poverty. For more information check out: http://www.worldvisiongifts.org