Cheap Christmas Charity Ideas that Make a Difference

Never do we turn our hearts and minds to those in need more than during the holiday season. The holidays bring out the best in even the most notorious scrooge. Helping those less fortunate than ourselves is the epitome of the holiday spirit. With the economy being the way it is, donations are needed more than ever as more and more people find themselves with empty wallets and pressing needs during this holiday season. Many people simply can't donate items and money as they could in the past, and many more want to but feel that the tiny contribution they can make wouldn't make much of a difference. Well here are some great ideas for those of us on a tight budget that want to give the gift of giving this year that will really make a difference without emptying our wallets.

The most needed gift to the less fortunate this year is time and it costs nothing. Volunteers are always a much needed and appreciated part of the holiday season. Take a few hours out of your week and donate your time to local shelter programs, soup kitchens or other organizations that are overwhelmed with requests for assistance this year. Get involved with local area churches and offer to assist them with their Christmas give away programs.

Toys for Tots and similar programs are great to get involved in and you can help out by simply offering to collect donations from local area locations and drop them off at the collection point while you are out doing your everyday shopping. Can't find an organization you'd like to help with? Call your local Department of Human Services, local churches, local Salvation Army or Goodwill locations, or 411 for a list of numbers to get you in touch with an organization that can use your help.

Perhaps your schedule is too hectic to allow for a large chunk of time to be allotted out for volunteering. There are many other ways to volunteer that take minimum time out of your week. Organizing or participating in local food drives and food drop off programs take minimum time and effort. Contacting local businesses and asking them to allow you to place a food or non perishable item collection box at their location takes minimum effort and the businesses can benefit from the good PR as well as collecting tax exemptions for items donated directly from the store itself. If you don't have time to pick up the items, allocate the task to another member on the volunteer team.

Another great idea is a wrapping paper drive. Yes you read that right, wrapping paper. Organizations that give out gifts during the holiday season are in desperate need of wrapping paper, gift labels, ribbons and bows to decorate their gifts to needy persons. How many people have a roll or two of left over wrapping paper from last Christmas or another special events just sitting in the back of their closet? Perhaps a half a bag of left over bows they never used or a half a roll of scotch tape? Get your friends and family together and ask for donations of these items, collect them and drop them off at a local organization that gives out gifts during the holidays. Not only does it help the environment by recycling those left over paper goods, but it helps the organizations save money since these types of items can run into the hundreds of dollars for organizations helping large numbers of people. Those organizations can use the money they save on other much needed services like helping needy persons pay for utilities, rent, medical services and food.

Crafters have a great opportunity during the holiday season to show off their work while helping those in need at the same time. Do you enjoy a crafting hobby like jewelry making, leather working, knitting, sewing, quilting? Maybe you are especially good at finding ways to recycle everyday items into nifty reusable things? Like to make homemade Christmas ornaments? A great way to spend time during the holidays, spread holiday cheer and practice your craft is to offer your expertise to those in need by arranging to give community classes on how to practice your particular craft. This would be especially appreciated in places like elderly and disabled persons care facilities, low income day cares and head start programs where kids would enjoy making their own gifts for their families, or family and domestic violence programs and shelters where people have a real need for the holiday spirit. Any local police benevolence society or community charity organization should be able to help you find places where a gift like this would be appreciated as well as resources on how to get the materials for the class for free. Craigslist and freecycle.org are great places on line to collect free materials for these kinds of things, and the class can donate the items they make to local homeless shelters or gifting organizations.

For those of us who know a particular person or family in need, charity need not be an expensive gift. Offering to decorate a needy persons home with home made ornaments, giving a gift basket filled with everyday needed items such as toothpaste, toilet paper, baby supplies or dry food goods, or just spending time with them swapping stories over some hot cocoa can be a great way to give during the holiday season.

Other ways to help include organizing a gift, phone or gas card drive. These can be distributed to charity organizations to give to needy individuals and families. These are practical gifts that can help make or break a needy family during the holidays and its as simple as picking one up during your usual shopping. Let others know you are collecting them and drop them off at any local food bank where people go to ask for assistance with utilities and rent.

Another great way to help during the holiday season is to organize support services for charities. During this time of the year volunteers are often over worked and overstressed trying to service the needy members of the community. Do something nice for the volunteers. Baked goods items like cookies and cakes say a multitude of thanks to these hardworking service people. Thank you cards to local charities are also a good way to let them know that people appreciate the work they are doing. Organize a caroling session and visit local charity offices during the holidays, this makes the season bright for everyone and lets the volunteers know that someone is thinking about them as well. Offer to deliver meals to late night workers or run errands for them. Many people give up a lot of their personal time during the holiday season to help those in need and extra efforts like this really let them know how much it is appreciated.