5 Ways to Engage Your Kids in Grateful Giving 4.25 Edit
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5 Ways to Engage Your Kids in Grateful Giving by LaSara Firefox, MPNLP, http://www.lasarafirefox.com When funds are tight, giving reminds us of how much we have, and how fortunate we are. While coming face-to-face with money-problems can be a challenging experience, being able to do something about it is a saving grace. This sense of empowerment is a key factor to viewing the global situation of "have and have-not" with compassion instead offear. The power to create solutions, eve n in small ways, is both a learning o pportunity, and a healing act that serves both giver and receiver. Generosity is a balm that soothes the savage soul. With our nation in the grasp o f some hard financial times, many of us are holding back on the consumptive aspect of our former life-styles. What better way than giving, to remind us what we've got? 1. Cull/weed household belongings and take them to the local shelter or women's center. An easy starting point is to cull or weed your household goods. While you're at it, you can suggest that your kids do the same, and have them decide what they're willing to part with to help a kid in need. Many shelters will take used toys, as well as clothes. Call your local shelter and see what they need, and what they're willing to take. If you're flush you can throw in some new items like toiletries and such. I am sure the shelter will be grateful. If your kids are ready for the experience, they may want to participate in the delivery ofitems, too. My older daughter who's 11 asked me to bring her with on the next drop offthat we do. 2. Host a Potlatch and take all left-over items to the charity or service of your choice. The potlatch ceremony is also called a give-away. Potlatch comes from the indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest coastline. In a potlatch, you give away your belongings as a celebration of your abundance. In north-western native culture, the potlatch consisted of every home in the village putting belongings outside for the the taking. The one who gave the most, as opposed to the family who HAD the most, gained the highest status. In native culture, this ceremony was und ertaken for many reasons. All of them had to do with the redistribution of wealth. Wealth was not only measured in belongings, though.
