Charity at Christmas

Everyone seems to receive a giving spirit at Christmas. People donate to everything from food banks, to the military to children of prisoners. In addition, we tend to give up our time to volunteer in homeless shelters, nursing homes, and to help put together food baskets. I think all of these are wonderful ways to share a bit of what we have been blessed with. But it is also a good idea to think outside of the box when it comes to giving and to come up with some more creative charity or sharing ideas. Several of the new charity ideas follows.

1) When our two boys were toddlers, we often went out to eat on children's night. We would get a free meal for both of the boys, and it sometimes came out cheaper than cooking at home. On a couple of occasions, we would go to the cash register to pay for our meal , only to find someone already had. We didn't look poverty stricken, so we supposed someone was impressed with a young family. If you are eating out, look for a family or couple that you think might appreciate a free meal. Go to the register, let the cashier know, find out how much their meal is, and randomly pay for it.

2) I had a friend who actually did this one. Someone bought her a gift card for a store she really didn't want to shop at. She randomly walked up to someone at the store who had items in their cart, and asked if they would like a free gift card. She explained that she didn't like to shop at the store. With her, this was the truth, but this line wouldn't offend anyone . If you offer a free gift card, I don't think anyone will decline.

3) Let's pretend you have a lot of money. I actually heard of a celebrity who did this wonderful gift of giving. Find a home ready to go up for foreclosure. Purchase the home and in return give it back to the person who is ready to lose it. This does take quit a bit of money, so wouldn't be an option for the average guy.

4) In a grocery store, pay for your grocery's, and leave cash for the person behind you. While this is a guessing game, you can pretty much estimate what a grocery full of items would cost. Even if the person has to pay a bit, they won't mind. And if they get change back, it is there's to use.

5) If you call your local military base, they will be more than happy to give you the name of a family whose loved one is overseas fighting for our country. Each base usually has a social services department or a family liaison. Whether or not they can give out the name is up to each base, but even if it is done in random, giving presents and food to a military family who will be lonely this Christmas, might just cheer up their holiday.

Perhaps some of these ideas may sound like something you would like to do in order to make Christmas that much merrier for someone else. By using your mind, you can come up with countless other creative, out of the box giving opportunities, not just for the holidays, but for the entire year.