Day 19--Z's Charitable Giving

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Day 19

Today I celebrate my former colleagues and friends from the best school on the planet, "Salts" :) They are some of my favorite people and I had so much fun working with them.  It has been a little over a year since I have seen many of them (life just gets in the way) but I think of them often and they hold a very special place in my heart.

When  I graduated with my Zoology degree, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life.  I liked the idea of teaching but did not like the lack of freedom in the public schools.  I could not imagine myself, working within a building and always conforming to the given "cookbook" curriculum.  I wanted to be the captain of my ship and take advantage of teachable moments, the great outdoors and celebrate our strengths and differences.  I wanted to teach through art, movement, cooperative learning and science.  I never in my wildest dreams, thought I would find a school that appreciated this thinking.

My time at "Salts" was an adventure.  We had many great times, some dark times and some frustrating times.  Through it all, we came together and stood up for the values and beliefs of our school and came out shining in the end.  I hope that Z and Lil C can attend a school similar to "Salts" someday, maybe we will have to move back to the area :)  Thanks to everyone there for everything you taught me.....I am better off for having known you!  Merry Christmas.

Z's Charitable Giving

This year, we have really stressed the importance of giving.  We want Z (and soon Lil' C) to understand how blessed we are and that there are many out there who are in need.  We decided this year, that Z would be involved in our donation to Toys for Tots as always but we wanted him to participate in even more of our annual giving projects.   

The giving adventure started off with a gift from our elf, The Berenstain Bears Think of those in Need.  This wonderful story shares the bears adventure to minimize their belongings and give to those who most need them.  After the story, we had a wonderful discussion and Z went off to collect gently used toys to donate.  He was asked to pick out 4 (one for each year of his life) but he ended up filling a garbage bag!  We were so proud of him and then it was off to Goodwill. 

Our next giving activity was at our library where Z picked a mitten off of our library's tree.  These mittens represent gifts for children in our community that might not otherwise have a Christmas.  Z picked the mitten, went with me to buy the gift and then returned the gift to the library.  It was so cute to see the big smile on his face as he put the gift under the tree :)  After our library stop, he marched into the police station and dropped off our donation for Toys for Tots (he loves this job) and left proudly with his police sticker :)  

A few days later we sat down and talked about donating money to a worthy cause.  With the help of pictures, I explained that we could help people build houses, help sick children, help people get food or try to do all three.  Z decided on all three and went to his piggy bank to get his donation.  We decided to send a check to Habitat for Humanity, we will add money to the donations that S's song brings in for the Make a Wish Foundation and we are are going today to buy toiletries and paper products for our local foodbank.  

Though he is still young, I do think that Z is starting to understand how important it is to give back to our community and help when we can.  I am hoping to find a project that our family can participate in all year long.  So many give around the holidays, but unfortunately there is a need every day of the year.

 

Special Christmas Fundraising Project

Click here to learn more about my husband's special fundraising effort to raise money for Make A Wish.