August 24, 2010
Opportunities For Charity
8:04 AM | 
Posted by
Stephanie
We know that children are naturally self-centered, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised these past few weeks.
My son (5-years-old) and I just had a conversation about this yesterday. I preface this story with the disclaimer that I normally don’t go around telling people about where we give money.
Matthew 6:3-4 instructs us: “But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” So please know that I am sharing this for illustration purposes only.
A while back my son and I made a donation to the World Wildlife Federation. He chose which animal he wanted to support, and we did the donation in his name. We talk about it from time to time, but he was telling me yesterday that he wanted to donate to them again from his own money. We talked about how he could collect his coins and send them money when we filled up a piggy bank that he designated for the cause.
Pretty sweet, huh?
Now just a few weeks ago, we had our Vacation Bible School. This year for our Outreach Mission we collected monetary donations for the town’s fuel bank (to assist needy people with fuel for their homes in the winter) and the town’s food bank.
Kids were bringing in non-perishable items, and we even made a little bit of a competition out of it amongst the classes. It was amazing to see how excited the kids were about helping people out in their town. I think this mission was one of the more successful ones in the terms of garnering support because the kids could really grasp that we were helping out people within their town. It was so neat to see them getting so excited about it – and not just because of the competition, either.
So what are some other ways that we can teach our children about charitable giving?
- Thanksgiving and Christmas are excellent times to talk about giving to those who are less fortunate. A lot of towns collect non-perishable items for their own food banks to give to the needy for their holiday meals.
- Just before my son’s birthday and Christmas time I like to have him go through his toys and help me pick out some things to give away – either via Freecycle, to donate to our church tag sale, etc. This has a twofold purpose – the first is to clear out some space for the new things that he’ll be receiving, but also to talk about kids who don’t have as many things as he does.
- Another great example is Samaritan Purse’s Operation Christmas Child. I know that the end of August is a little early to be thinking about Christmas, but I felt this being put on my heart today so please indulge me.
Operation Christmas Child (OCC) collects shoeboxes filled with little gifts (hygiene items, toys, etc.) for kids who are less fortunate in other countries. Samaritan’s Purse uses this opportunity to spread Jesus’ love to other children who otherwise may not have heard of Jesus, or who have heard of Him but never had a Bible of their own. It’s not too early to talk to your kids about collecting small items to fill up a shoebox with! You can find out more about OCC and their drop sites here - You can look in your local community to see if any organizations are collecting school supplies for donation.
- And of course there is the offering plate at your church. We haven’t been very consistent about giving our son money to put in the plate each week after Sunday School – that’s something we’ll have to work on for this year.
"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
-Matthew 25:36-40
Your sister in Christ,
My blogs: MomKaboodle - The Place for Moms
The Helping Mommy
Find me on Twitter: @MomKaboodle & @sdakin105
Photo credit:Runran (Creative Commons License)
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12 comments:
My kids know that we will clean out their toy room every few months to find toys that we can "share" with other kids who don't have any. They love to help fill the "give away" box, even though they're still a little young to understand the difference between toys Mommy thinks we need to keep (i.e. the brand new toys you just got for birthday/Christmas) versus the toys we should "share" (i.e. the toys you haven't played with in 3 months). It's a great way to start earlier to purge your belongings and share with those less fortunate than yourself.
Nice post! A couple years ago, we read The Christmas Jar and we were inspired to save our change for a year in a little jar to donate to someone. We had the opportunity to see firsthand how a little change made a difference in someone's life. The kids still talk about it. Perhaps we should do that again, right? Thanks for sharing your giving ideas. Happy Tuesday! :o)
I love this post. I cannot wait to teach my little guy about giving to others. It was so implemented in us as children that I just couldn't imagine how having a heart to share with others!! Just think.. if EVERY parent would teach their kids to love to give to others, then what kind of society we'd have in 20 years!! :)
Love this! Such a great word! Our kids (I'm most are like this) love to give! My kids get so excited about their Sunday offering each week.
In today's world of "ME" and "I" it is so important to teach our children to "share". Not only does it teach them about giving, it helps them understand that God wants and loves us ALL. WE should, too! The only way the world will KNOW we are His is by our LOVE. Thanks for sharing such great ideas!!!
Great ideas for passing charitable concepts to our kids. Its a very important part the creator's plan.
Absolutely! This can be tough sometimes (even for Mommy), especially if you have a younger one that could use the toy when they're a little bit older. Definitely a good lesson, though!
Thanks Charity! So glad you could stop by and leave a comment!
You're SO right, Denise. It wasn't until a few years back that I was taught that all of the money in the world belongs to God already. He doesn't NEED our money, but He does need us to show that we can be trusted with what we've been giving by giving back. It's hard for the little ones to understand, but I'm trying to teach this to the kiddos now while they're young. Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
Hey Penny! That's so great that your kiddos have a giving heart already - especially with the offering plate! It is so great to instill that at an early age. That's something that they won't forget when they're older. :)
Isn't that such a great image? We're definitely in a "ME" kind of world. It would be so much better if we all could say "how can I help YOU?" Thanks for commenting!
That's such a beautiful idea! Would love if you posted more details about the results on your blog and linked to it in the comments section. :) Thanks for commenting!
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