A Different Kind of Gift Giving This Holiday Season

This holiday season – why not use your money to change someone’s life? Because my children are older, and my family doesn’t exchange gifts anymore, we’ve decided to make this holiday the holiday of giving to others.

We’re going to the extreme… No tree, no lights, no presents and just spending lots of quality time together. We will be donating to multiple charities that each family member gets to choose.

At a certain age, it becomes hard to make wish lists because you have everything you need. There are so many others that have needs this year.

There is a wonderful organization called GlobalGiving that makes it even easier to connect with the people that need your help. You can go online and buy gift cards to give to friends and family so that they can donate to vetted local changemakers who are making the world a better place. There are also many worthwhile organizations to donate your time and resources to in Kansas City.

Tutor children in reading.

Learning to read is magical – and a child that can read well by 3^rd grade is much for likely to succeed in school. Check out Lead to Read – it’s only 1 hour out of your week to help a child during the school year.

Be a child advocate.

I worked with CASA for years – it’s a big commitment, but one of the most rewarding things I have ever experienced. I still think about my “kids” often.

Be a mentor.

Big Brother Big Sisters of Kansas City matches adults with children and young adults to provide mentoring, so they can attain their goals and dreams.

Join a group that donates Christmas presents for kids – I still love shopping for this. I miss surprising my kids with toys from Santa!

So often in the world, we buy each other trinkets or things we don’t really need. Why not live the values of the season and lift yourselves and others with these transformational gifts?