Serve, Don't Stress! Acts of Holiday Charity Can Be Simple and Boost Your Spirits
We are often inspired to be charitable at the holidays but sometimes the stress of the season prevents us from following through on our good intentions. But at Heaven on Earth NOW, we believe in keeping it simple. We have compiled a list of activities you and your loved ones can pursue, many of them on your own time.
The list below is designed to help you dive in, whether you are introverted and like at-home service work or you prefer hands-on or outdoor activities to change the world. Ideas for all ages are included.
Regardless, the impulse to give back during the holidays is so important. It places a value on looking outward, extending hope and love to people, animals, and a planet that needs our care. It sets the tone for year-round charitable acts.
So enjoy the season of giving. No gift is too small, your hands and hearts are precious to the organizations and recipients! Here’s the list:
Make a laundromat care package. A roll of quarters, detergent pods, a granola bar, and a handmade card offer cheer. Drop the care package(s) at a local laundromat.
Adopt a soldier. Contact the military base in your area and see programs/activities they have during the holiday season. Respond to the needs the base identifies. Invite a soldier or sailor to enjoy a meal with you. Or, treat a service member to a free drink at Starbucks.
Feed our feathered friends for the winter. Make and hang pine cone bird feeders.
Do a random act of kindness. Pay the tab for someone in line with you. Pay off lay-away items for a stranger. Settle someone’s medical debt at a local hospital. Underwrite the cost of treats after a children’s Christmas program or play.
Host a Healthy Food Drive at your office, school, or house of worship. Or ask friends you are inviting to a holiday party to bring healthy nonperishables. Donate the items to a local food pantry or soup kitchen. We provide all you need to get started.
Give a ride to a friend. Sometimes folks miss concerts or church celebrations, afraid to drive at night. Others may need company, going in for medical tests or a doctor’s appointments. Or maybe a friend would appreciate a ride to the mall. If you like to drive, help someone navigate traffic and parking lots; that’s a gift in and of itself.
Celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas. Surprise a neighbor with homemade gifts or cards left at their door, themed to the famous “12 Days of Christmas” song. Turtle candy and bars of Dove soap could be two turtledoves, for example. Kids will have fun sneaking them over. Pick a neighbor who might need a little extra cheer this year.
Sponsor a family or a child. Contact the school counselor at a school in a lower-income area and ask which families might benefit from some gifts this holiday season. Share the news with friends of yours who may want to take part. Deliver the wrapped gifts to the school for the counselor to distribute.
Shovel a neighbor’s walk or driveway. Imagine the delight if you surprise a stranger.
Microloan. For as little as $25, you can change lives around the world, partnering with small business people in developing countries. Your loan will be returned and you can keep giving!
Be a star for the solar system. Be NASA’s eyes, searching digital scans for planets and reporting fireballs you see in the sky.
Babysit. Know a single parent who could use a night out? Bingo or a Christmas movie can make it a special night for the kids as well as giving the parent time to shop or have some needed alone time.
Craft items for shelter pets. Here are lots of simple ideas. Organize a night to make them with friends and take these comfort items to local shelters. Snuggles, thanks to you!
Make THIS your Advent calendar. Come up with 25 acts of kindness or charity, like those on this list, and write them on decorative gift tags. Number the gift tags on the other side from 1 to 25. Hang them and turn them over, day by day, to pursue an Advent filled with purpose and meaning.
Decorate the halls of a hospital or nursing home. Make paper chains and sweet homemade holiday posters. Bring garlands and lights. Contact a hospital or nursing home and ask to put them up or drop them by.
Hold a loose change scavenger hunt. Turn over the couch cushions. Look in drawers. Count all the coins in the change jar. Then, take a moment to consider and make a contribution to a cause you care about.
Help out at school or church. The holidays bring lots of extra tasks at schools and churches. See if you can lend a hand, setting up chairs for a concert, making copies, or other odd jobs.
Hold a gift wrapping fundraiser. Ask a local store if you can set up a table and donate the proceeds to your favorite charity. Gather some friends and the supplies and wrap for a worthy cause.
Hang lights for a friend. Decorate a home for someone who may not be capable of doing so.
Carol at a nursing home. Or make cards and visit. Call a local activities director at a nursing home and arrange for your group to stop by.
Make cards to send to troops overseas. Operation Gratitude can help you get started.
Fill Dollar Store stockings to distribute. Assemble these and carry them with you to spread holiday cheer — to the postal carrier, a mom dealing with a screaming child, someone who looks stressed or in need.
Treat a bellringer to a treat. The folks who volunteer to ring the bell and collect coins in the kettles this holiday season would undoubtedly love a hot cocoa or coffee, on you! Be an elf for other volunteers!
Let someone else go first. Offer to let a stranger go before you in a crowded line. Give up the closer parking space. Practice putting other people before you and feel the warm fuzzies it brings!
Shop where you can give back. Buy gifts from fair trade markets. Support local merchants. Choose recycled items at thrift stores to cut down on waste and packaging.
Clean out your closets and donate! Coats, scarves, gloves, socks, blankets, and sweaters: all of these will be treasured by people out on the streets in the cold. Take them to a local shelter or a center that helps homeless citizens.
Surprise folks at a bus stop with some hot cocoa. Lend a little warmth and good will to those who stand out in the cold.
Assemble a classroom care package for a teacher. Classrooms always need pencils, tissue, hand sanitizer, markers, and the like. And a gift card to a local store would undoubtedly be a sweet gesture for a deserving teacher.
Hold a sock drive. Or find socks in bulk at discount stores to give to a shelter. These are desperately needed items for folks who live on the streets. You can donate them to a local shelter or find more info here.
Add these items to a calendar. Many of these acts of kindness can be pursued year round. Pick a day each month to devote to service so that volunteering and contributing to the greater good becomes a year-round endeavor.