One of the central tenets of our faith is to "love one another as I have loved you" (John 13:34). Jesus calls on each of us to help those in need and to serve our fellow man: "Whoever has two cloaks should share with the person who has none. And whoever has food should do likewise" (Luke 3:11). In our homeschool, we stress the responsibility we have as Christians to give back to the community.
Because our children are young, I look for opportunities to make charity concrete for them. We bring non-perishables with us on our weekly library trip to donate to the Second Harvest Food Bank collection bin. We have a Rice Bowl on our table during Lent. We donate school supplies to our local Catholic Worker House Backpack giveaway. We purchase Christmas gifts for the Toys for Tots and our parish's "Angel Tree" programs. This fall, we are planning to organize a fundraising drive within our local homeschool support group for Project Night Night. Project Night Night collects tote bags filled with nighttime comfort items (security blanket, stuffed animal, & a book) for homeless children living in local shelters. Donating tangible items to individuals in our community makes it easier for our young children to learn empathy.
4 comments:
These are all really great ideas. I find that the Angel Tree is great for young kids to participate in because it's really concrete and easy for kids to understand.
What great organizations to share with your children!
First-time visit from CHBM and I love your blog title and header pic. Very true and thought-provoking.
Also, your "Crimson Wife" lured me over to see if the "crimson" had to do with the univ of alabama, which is the sworn enemy of my beloved Auburn University. But I think you're not of that crimson, so it should be ok for me to come back and read more again another day.
ramble ramble blah blah snoooooore
That's so funny about the Alabama-Auburn rivalry. We have a good friend from DH's Army days who is a 'bama alum and he gave DH such a hard time about DD's stuffed tiger ;-)
"Crimson" is the school color of the university both DH and my dad attended, but it's at a much higher latitude and eastern longitude than Alabama!
Charity starts at home, and it sounds like you are doing a wonderful job of teaching it to your children. My children and I do similar things, but not to extent you and yours do (yet!).
Here via CHBM.
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