Donating to local charities is especially important this time of the year. It makes me sad to think that while some kids are getting showered with an overwhelming amount of expensive gifts like video gaming systems, ipods, and other electronics (which they may not even be appreciative of), other kids only get one small modest gift because their parent(s) are unable to afford to keep up with the demands of this time of vast consumerism. I think that there is definitely too much emphasis on the "stuff" side of Christmas, but it still is unfair that some children are given the world, while others don't get much at all. For those families who do not have a lot of money to purchase gifts for their children, it is important to me to contribute especially considering as a child who grew up in poverty, I was on the receiving end of the gift donations as a child.
Which Local Charities to Donate to?
The Workplace? At my workplace, there was lots of opportunity to donate. There was a toy drive in addition to a food drive. Aleksy's work place also had a toy drive in which he participated in. The donations for his work toy drive were donated to the Big Brothers Big Sisters of London (an agency to which I am involved in so we definitely had to participate!).
Angel Tree – If work doesn't have any drives, this is always a good way to go! Last year I took my Little Sister to the Argyle Mall in London and together we purchased a gift for a child off the tree in the mall. I believe most malls have something similar to this too...
CAS donation – The CAS has several families and children/youth without families who benefit from gift donations. Each CAS has an independent drive which may differ between locations. I know London and Brantford have holiday gift campaigns for their families/children.
Food banks – With parents concentrating on using all of their money on Christmas gifts, it is easy to run out of food money. And donating to the food bank is so easy! Many grocery stores have bins as you exit which you can drop food off in. In addition to this, some grocery stores (Metro does!) even have special bags that they have put together for the food bank so you can save the wandering around the store time!
And plus, it's fun to go shopping for the donations! My Little Sister and I made an outing out of it, and Aleksy and I spent a substantial amount of time in the toy aisle playing with toys like the Bop It!
Definitely need to give this time of year! If you guys can afford to buy nice things for people in your family you can definitely afford to share some extra cash or time with people who aren't as fortunate as we are. If you see someone on the street looking for change/food/coffee, spare the money and help them out. The food bank is definitely a good place to start though. In the GTA alone last year the food bank had over 1 million visits, and sadly 35% of those were made by children. Yes, children. So sad that we can go drop $100 on a sibling or family member, but can't be bothered to help out those that are less fortunate. Share your wealth and don't be greedy little fuckers at this time of year!!
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