Here it is folks. The LIST. Much of this was generated from all of you lovely people that gave me ideas for my 25 Days of Giving I did for Advent with my girls. Hopefully this will be useful to you as well.
1. Put together a shoe box for Operation Christmas Child
2. Put money in a Salvation Army bell ringer’s bucket
3. Adopt a family through your local mission or shelter
4. Bake cookies for friends, neighbors, family & teachers
5. Tidy up the neighborhood
6. Make and send cards to family/friends telling them what they like about them
7. Do something kind for someone secretly
8. Shower family members with kind words
9. Place spare change in the missionary jar (at church)
10. Give food to local food bank- take it there themselves
11. Send handmade cards to the military
12. Visit a nursing or retirement home
13. Visit a local animal shelter and play with the animals
14. Donate food to a local animal shelter
15. Collect scarves and hats for the homeless
16. Make cards or drawings and give them to people in retirement homes
17. Let them pick out a new toy for Toys For Tots or similar program
18. Save their change and donate to a cause
19. Release a book somewhere that someone might want one. Leave a sticky note inside saying it is for whoever finds it.
20. Help a neighbor with a chore they need done.
21. Bake cookies and share them with the recipient.
22. Pick out a pair of shoes for "Soles for Soles"
23. Hot Cocoa/ lemonade stand to raise money for a cause
24. Volunteer at your church
25. Stay late in their classroom or nursery to help clean.
26. Choosing water at the fast food restaurant and giving the money saved for a cause.
27. Have a "pick up trash" day where you look for litter everywhere you go.
28. Do a story time at a local mission/shelter.
29. Sell something to raise money for a cause.
30. Buy a needy family a Christmas tree.
31. Draw little pictures and write notes- leave them around town for people to find.
32. Make craft kits to take to the children's hospital.
33. Visit elderly members from church.
34. Bring home baked cookies to Fire Fighters, NICU nurses, Police Officers on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.
35. Make sandwiches and pass them out to homeless people.
36. Buy gift cards and put them under someone’s windshield wipers.
37. Hand out flowers to strangers- bus station, senior center, etc.
38. Have a car wash to raise money for a cause or wash cars for free.
39. Make cookies and have a bake sale to raise money for a cause.
40. Write notes to teachers or caregivers about what makes them special.
41. Befriend someone they don't normally talk to.
42. Bring hats to the hospital for children that have lost their hair.
43 Let them pick out an outfit from their closet to donate to a charity that gives clothes to needy children.
44. Sign up to sponsor a child through World Vision that has your child's birth date. Help them write letters.
45. Check with your local mission or shelter to find out what needs they have. Buy blankets or socks, etc. with your kids and deliver them to the shelter.
46. Have your kids help prepare a meal for a new mom or someone who is sick.
47. Mow an elderly neighbor's lawn.
48. Donate new crayons to the children's hospital.
49. Help your child organize a sponsorship drive for World Vision, Compassion International or other child sponsorship program.
50. Ask for canned food for the food bank in lieu of gifts at a birthday party.
Anything I left off? Help me expand the list!
Please feel free to use this list but give credit where credit is due! Thanks!
