If I remember anything from my parents it was watching them give when I was younger. They gave of their time as church ‘marriage counselors’ for young married couples, led the homeless ministry at our church and always supported recently arrived immigrant families in countless ways.
This holiday our Los Tweens & Teens team had the opportunity to give as well. Our amigos at Ford provided us a budget to spend on others through the “One Tank of Good” program.
Kids Embrace Giving
We used the funds to teach our kids two lessons:
– Shopping on a budget to leverage the monies as much as possible
– Choosing the donations wisely so any child can potentially enjoy it
As children get older the concept of giving is so important. During the holidays much of the focus is on receiving, but giving really does have its deep personal rewards. Hopefully it is a lesson that they will carry throughout their lives.
A quick Bing search with “holiday giving” provided many great ideas on how to get involved in giving somehow. Our suggestion when getting your kids and tweens excited about giving- KEEP IT SIMPLE. Talk to them, ask them how they would like to help others and then help them make it a reality. It’s easy!
Our kids wanted to help other kids in their similar age range (7-14 year olds) so we allowed them to shop and we donated the items to Kids in Distress.
Our best wishes for a peaceful holiday for all.
Felicidades!
As a mother of twin tweens in 2011 and an active Girl Scout Troop leader, Cristy realized there was a need to develop bilingual digital content and foster a community facing the challenges of raising kids after first grade. That year she founded and remains co-Publisher of Los Tweens & Teens, to support multicultural parents and mentors with content related to raising Gen Z- tweens & teens ages 7-18. Through the Los Tweens & Teens LIVE events such as Teens & Me – the growing team aims to provide our community with essential resources from chats with therapists to battle anxiety and bullying, to understanding social media and technology.