Monday, November 3, 2008

'Tis the Season to GIVE!

A few days ago we received the annual holiday newsletter from our local charitable organization, and in it was a reminder about the beginning of their food drive as well as an article about their "Giving Tree"-type campaign. Usually I read the newsletter and then throw it away, but this issue I kept. I looked at the list of food items and then I looked at the pile of coupons on my dining room table, many of them for great products that my family just doesn't use. I decided then and there to challenge myself this year: I'm going to give as much as possible to those two campaigns while spending as little as possible (so that I can give more).

Before I continue, please hear me--I'm not writing this for any reason other than 1) to hold myself accountable, 2) to hopefully get some great ideas from you on how to accomplish this goal, and 3) to possibly inspire you to join me in giving. That being said...

Yesterday I started my quest by getting FREE Crest Pro-Health toothpaste at CVS. With my coupons I actually earned $1 on the purchase. Toothpaste is not quite food and really isn't a great Christmas gift, but I had to start somewhere. I then went to Walgreens where I acquired two boxes of Celestial Seasonings tea for FREE--They were 2 for $3. The Walgreens Easy Saver Rebate book has a coupon for $1 off of 2 boxes and I had 2 $1 off 1 box coupons from a previous Sunday paper. Those are considered food donations, so I'm on my way!

So, if you see any deals, let me know! And if you want to post your ideas for helping your community, please leave comments! I don't have to tell you that many people are feeling the crunch this year with recent economic events. If we can give of ourselves, our time, our abilities, our talents, maybe we can show others the Light that is the Truth of this season...

Happy Giving!

2 comments:

Donna said...

Thanks for this awesome post, Rachel! This is what the season is all about, after all!

We plan to pack food boxes with our little ones at the c. center this year. We're not quite ready for wrapping gifts, but KID 1 can sort canned food with the best of them!

We're excited about sharing this opportunity to give back to the community with our children every year.

By the way, do you know if the library is doing their food for fines campaign yet?

Rachel said...

I'm not sure about the food for fines--I can check tomorrow morning at story time.

What is involved in packing food boxes? Do you take the donations and sort them by family? That's a neat idea and fun for the whole family!

Thanks for your input!