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Teaching kids to be charitable
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Parents are looking for ways to help instill empathy, responsibility and social consciousness into their children. Generally, these lessons can be taught through example and general guidance by the parent, but it is essential to do more to ensure children understand their personal responsibilities.
The upcoming holiday season often gets parents and teachers alike thinking about ways to teach our children to be more charitable. Many ideas have been presented that work effectively and may be right for your home and family.
1. Create a charity box. This box is one in which children can donate part of their allowance each week. During the holiday season, the children and parents can research charities and decide together where to donate the money collected. This helps the children understand completely as they are saving the money, researching the potential recipients, and making the final decision as to where it should go. They are active participants in the process and can understand the entire process.
2. Start a food drive. Children of varying ages can start a food drive to donate to the local food bank. The Lord's pantry in Downingtown, PA always welcomes donations throughout the year but especially during the holidays.
3. Create cards for the military. Children of all ages can create greeting cards to send to our troops overseas. This is wonderful for our military to receive warm wishes from home but also allows our children to express their gratitude for the job our service men and women provide for us. Many agencies throughout the area can assist in providing addresses to send the completed cards and gifts. The Red Cross can assist those who wish to send cards or gifts overseas as well as organizations like Operation Love from Home. They can be contacted at www.operationlovefromhome.org.
4. Adopt a family. The adopt a family programs have been very successful over the years and provide our children a deeper understanding of the holiday season. Children will receive information about a family including the ages and sex of the children in the family. Children can then shop for gifts for that family. The Salvaton Army can assist families interested in participating in this for the holidays.
For more information contact: Salvation Army, West Chester Corps 10 E. Market St. West Chester, PA 19381 or www.use.salvationarmy.org. Operation Love from Home at www.operationlovefromhome.org.
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