Pages

▼

Monday, December 19, 2011

Giving Back During the Holidays

I was really looking forward to participating in Operation Santa this year. Operation Santa is a program that the USPS runs throughout the country. To see participating postal offices go here. How the program works: Local postal workers, individuals, and organizations or companies “adopt” the Dear Santa letters from needy children. They then shop for as many of the items requested in the letters and return to the Post Office with packages ready to mail.

Unfortunately my closest post office that offers the program is downtown and you could only stop by during certain weekday business hours (just not possible for me to get down there during the day).

So I decided to look into a different way to donate. I had heard about the Salvation Army Angel Tree before but was worried I'd run into the same problem (because of my hours I would need somewhere open on the weekends). I was thrilled to see that the Angel Tree program is now online!!! You can order your gifts online through JCPenney (and have them ship directly to the Salvation Army for free!) OR just adopt a child online and then shop wherever you want (I did my shopping at Target and Marshalls). I chose 4 children and I loved being able to pick out things for them (toys, clothing, and books). I could just picture them opening their gifts on Christmas morning and that's the best part! The Angel Tree program is now closed but you can still donate money online here

Other ways to give back:
Westside Food Bank (for my local readers)
St. Joseph's Center (for my local readers)
Toys for Tots
Feed the Children
Save the Children

How are you giving back this holiday season?
at

6 comments:

  1. GlitteristaDecember 19, 2011 at 6:22 AM

    I just saw a commercial about this and thought it was such a great idea to have the option of doing this online. I helped a local organization sort donations Saturday and it was so inspiring to see how many people were involved with this one organization by donating. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. TiffanyDecember 19, 2011 at 2:20 PM

    My fiancé and I are volunteering through the local Jaycees chapter on Christmas Eve. We'll be dressing up as Santa and Mrs. Claus to deliver gifts to local children. I cannot wait!

    ReplyDelete
  3. GraceDecember 19, 2011 at 3:21 PM

    Great ideas! I typically give back by participating in my school's Christmas basket program which puts together a whole Christmas for 75 poor families.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The Mrs.December 19, 2011 at 6:01 PM

    Great post. I did that one year. Greatest thing ever. Made me feel great!

    ReplyDelete
  5. NatalieDecember 19, 2011 at 6:12 PM

    I adopted an elderly person to buy presents for. I also participated inmy church's Angel Tree to buy presents for kids. Finally, joined in w/ co workers to adopt a family. I picked to buy shoes for a ten year old boy.

    ReplyDelete
  6. RoyarDecember 20, 2011 at 5:43 PM

    I always give any change or one dollar bills to the Salvation Army bell so that by the end of the holiday season I'll have given twenty or twenty-five dollars! I now really want to go pay off some layaways at Kmart or Sears! XO

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for stopping by! If you have a question please make sure to leave your email address in your comment.