In my family we exchange names and donate to a charity in the name of the person whose name you got. I love it!
A friend of mine works for a Baptist Mission and told me the donations for the children’s toy drive were really low this year. So I’m buying a couple of toys to donate. I also donate change to Salvation Army bell-ringers after December 1st. My hockey team has food drives I will donate to this upcoming weekend; the food goes to another local Christian charity.
I’m not Christian, but all of the above named organizations have very low administrative overhead. Most of the year my charitable donations go to animal related causes. I don’t forget the animals at Christmas, but I hate the idea of a child not having a toy or two.
I give to several Adopt a Families. I also send gift cards anonymously to people who I know are going through a rough time. I put money in the Salvation Army bucket. I donate to the local Foodbank.
Every year my family (Mother, Father and Siblings) sponsor a family through Catholic Charities. We take a family of 4 with either two parents and two kids or a single parent with three kids. They ask for a complete set of clothing for each child including shoes and maybe a toy. My children know that before we buy any gifts for each other, we take care of our “Christmas Family”. We love doing this and have been doing it for years now.
My company also takes on a family for the employees to sponsor. Of course that is optional per employee’s means and desire to participate but most employees do participate even if they only pick up a small toy or pair or socks. The Christmas season doesn’t begin for me until I get my Christmas Family.
I donate to a couple of childrens charities throughout the year and also participate in their Christmas toy drive. My husband donates every year to the rescue group that gave us Kaia. They do an extra push at Christmas time because they tend to rescue more pets in Feb - April. Boxers are adorable puppies but they grow up big and pushy if they’re not well trained.
Sort of. I have no ideological problem with these organizations, and am currently knitting a scarf for a coat and hat drive. But I really can’t afford to buy toys and drop them into the Toys for Tots box. Yarn is cheap, though, and I would rather donate my time than my money.
Yup - each Christmas I buy a gift for a kid from the Angels Anonymous tree at our local Dairy Queen. We also donate to the Food Bank at Safeway (buying a pre-packaged bundle) and donating to a charity instead of doing gifts in my family, because we all have everything we want (and more). I try to remember to donate to the Food Bank at least one other time during the year, since everyone gets charitable at Christmas then forgets about them.