In all the rushing and planning and wrapping and baking at Christmas time, one of the things we consider most important is finding meaningful service opportunities to share with our families.
Obviously there a lot of wonderful, tried and true service ideas this time of year--choosing a family you know is in need and secretly dropping off gits for the twelve days of Christmas, picking a name off a Christmas tree at the mall and purchasing gifts for that person, participating in Toys for Tots, and so on.
We thought it would be fun this year to draw your attention to three unique service opportunities. We'll share one each day for the remainder of this week.
Today's is an idea I saw in my December Better Homes and Gardens and I looooove it.
Hot Chocolate for Charity
Help your children set up a Hot Chocolate Stand in your neighborhood. Deck out the table with holiday decor and make sure to have fun toppings like whipped cream, peppermint sticks, and marshmallows. Help the children choose a charity or cause they'd like to donate the earnings to, and have them make a sign explaining their cause. Then bundle up and brave the cold as you watch your children learn how exhilarating service can feel!
**Obviously some neighborhoods (and some climates!!) aren't ideal for this idea. Think of ways to adapt it. For example, a hot chocolate stand outside a busy store or inside a holiday bazaar.
2 comments:
That's a lovely idea, it would be fun for the kids, and dropping off the money they earned would help them see that charity often requires sacrifice on the part of the giver.
Thanks for sharing!
Indeed, giving is better than receiving... and during Christmas, there's no better way than giving to a charity. It's a nice idea, clever, like a lemonade stand during summer. Of course, like you said it might not be safe if the weather is too bad, but setting up the stand where a lot of people could pass by is good. Helping others is a great way to teach your children that value of charity and kindness!
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