Giving Back for the Holidays! #DisneyCFK #CBias
Posted by 
December 21, 2011 •
When I was growing up we didn’t have a lot of money. (Not that I have a lot now, but we have more breathing room and are comfortable.) When I was little… I received help. We received help. We lived in government subsidized housing. We were on food stamps and AFDC (the old W-2 welfare system in Wisconsin). A lot of my clothes were hand me downs from my cousin or were from the community donation center.
Sometimes I received presents from a giving tree.
While I didn’t always understand it then and sometimes was upset about it… as an adult I can look back with appreciation for the community assistance. Others made it possible for me to have what I needed! Since I’m in a better place financially (as is my daughter), I see it as a time for our family to give back. While we often donate items to Goodwill or through our community’s Freecycle group, I haven’t been doing as much as I’d like to. Sure, while I worked I often donated stockpiled hygiene supplies to my clients and helped to connect them to programs for holiday meals and gifts.. but it was part of the job.
I’m not sure what it is about Christmas that inspires us to give more than any other time of year, but I strongly want “giving back” to be part of our holiday activities. I want my daughter to grow up seeing it as natural and just what we do every year; though, I want to make sure we do a few other times of year too!
My husband and I have agreed that mot of our donations will now go to a local food pantry and resale shop. Every school year, we will donate at least one backpack of school supplies to a child in need. Every Christmas we will get a name from the giving tree as well as donate to a local domestic violence shelter.
If I’m looking for more ideas and ways to give back throughout the year, I’ll check Champions for Kids for their monthly service projects. I’m very proud and honored to be working on a campaign for their current service project which is to inspire a child with a stocking of Disney magic! Champions for Kids is all about helping children in the community and I am happy to do so. I hope you’ll consider it too – it’s not too late to get something together! Soon I’ll share about what I bought to share with a child at a domestic violence shelter. I definitely felt a child there should receive my stocking…
Want to know more? Check out www.ChampionsforKids.org or connect with the on Twitter at @champions4kids and Facebook.
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Disclosure: This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. All thoughts and opinions are my own based on my experiences.
Tags: cbias, champoins for kids, charity, collective bias, disney, spon
What a beautiful story and such a loving heart to give back to children!
This is so beautiful! I’ve been going back & forth with ideas of the many ways I wanted to get involved in giving back this holiday season. I like to do it all year whenever I can but feel the need to do even more during the holidays. I grew up with a grandmother that always did for others in need, no questions asked. Not a selfish bone in her body! So glad to see that still exists these days. Thank you for sharing this post & Champions For Kids, it will help me give back even more!Mina_Slater
Darcy, Thanks for being so honest with your background. I am sure its not easy but your honesty helps so many feel more comfortable in their own situation.stillblondeaaty
I love this idea and will definitely be checking them out for ideas on giving back. We are trying to protect my son from feeling spoiled, but he is the only little one in our family right now so he tends to get too much. We have talked to him about giving some of his toys away, but haven’t taken the steps to do it yet. Thank you for the reminder!!
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What a great story! Such a wonderful cause :)AshBG
We make sure that we ‘twin’ our children up with a child the same age from the angel tree every year and have them pick out a gift for their ‘twin’ and like you, we support the local foodbank. I think it’s so important to keep up charitable giving whenever we can, especially with so many in need.chascouponmom
I also grew up quite poor at times and my mom needed to be on food stamps when she was going back to school. It was embarrassing at the time but I feel it makes me appreciate everything I have now much more. Thanks for sharing your story and how you are helping give back now.
That is great to have that personal connection (not that it was great that you didn’t have much money—though I can relate a bit to your childhood) with causes like this that help give families and children what they need, not jsut for the holidays but throughout the year.Beingtazim
Thanks for being brave enough to share your story, Darcy.gretasday
It’s so nice to give back! We are trying to teach our kids this because they just keep asking for things. =( Need to teach them that giving is better than getting. Guess that’s hard for a 4 and 7 year old.
Champions for Kids is doing amazing work with their simple service projects. Thanks for sharing them with your readers!FoundtheMarbles