Thanks GIVING
November is a time to remember to give thanks for everything we have in life- from something huge right down to the tiniest thing.
It’s also a time of giving- showing your thanks and appreciation by giving back to something or somebody that needs it.
The biggest reason people don’t give is because they feel they don’t have anything to offer or can’t afford it. Well, here are 2 ways you can make a difference for less than a dollar.
1. Fill the Cup: World Food Programme
Just 25 cents fills a cup with porridge, rice, or beans for hungry kids in 70 countries around the world in the World Food Programme’s Fill the Cup initiative. $50 can feed a child for a year. A year. That’s a dinner out for a couple in an only semi-nice restaurant around here.
Without food, kids can’t learn. Something as small as being hungry robs them of the ability to develop their full potential. In addition, serving food at school {where the cups are distributed} encourages families to send their children, increasing attendance rates- especially for girls.
It’s something to think about next time the barista fills up your holiday red Starbucks cup with a $4 beverage.
Prefer to keep things local? Check out No Kid Hungry, which does a similar thing at the US level.
Or find a similar program in your community. Around here, Backpack Beginnings is a remarkable program feeding kids in my county over the weekend, a time they would often go hungry before. {Did you know it takes 2 days for your brain to recover from not eating? That meant kids weren’t learning until Wednesday. The cycle starts all over just 2 days later.}
The husband and I support the World Food Programme & No Kid Hungry each year at our Red Cup holiday party.
2. You Are the One: Friends of Maddie
Heather & Mike Spohr’s daughter Maddie should be turning 4 this Friday. Unfortunately due to complications from a premature birth, this will be the third time her parents spend her birthday without her.
Instead of feeling sorry for themselves, the Spohrs turned their tragedy into something positive for other families by creating Friends of Maddie, a not for profit organization that supports families and babies in the NICU with care packages, assistance in finding a place for the family to stay, and helping families connect to other families for support.
To honor her birthday this year, the Spohr’s are selling a song Mike wrote for his wife that has specially meaning for them for Maddie. For 99 cents you can download the song from iTunes and all proceeds go towards supporting and expanding the Friends of Maddie program.
How are you giving back this Thanksgiving?
