Giving to Those in Need

Here is my recent donation to the donation drop box at my local Stop and Shop. All of it is stuff that I either got for free or cheap.

One of my goals for the new year is to pick up something every week from the grocery store that can be donated to the food pantry and when I say something I mean stuff that is somewhat healthy. For example, the past couple of weeks Shaws and Stop and Shop have have cereal deals where if you buy four boxes you get a free gallon of milk- I bought some boxes of regular Cheerios which my kids love (using .55 coupons that doubled) and some boxes of Multi Grain Cheerios which my kids refuse to eat (using .75 coupons that doubled). I could have just gotten all regular Cheerios but figured that the Multi Grain ones were such a great deal I would pick them up to donate. The Kashi cereal was free with a coupon from Vocal Point- I hate this flavor of cereal but figured I could get it to donate.

It feels good to help others who are in need and it is also a great example to set for my kids. My son is starting to understand that not all kids are as lucky as him- he has a nice house to live in, good food to eat, way too many toys, nice clothes to wear and a mommy and daddy who would do anything for him and his sister. My son's school had a spare change drive for a couple of families who were in need and Tyler and I emptied his piggy bank together and filled up a plastic baggie with his change for him to donate. He knows that his money is going to people who don't have a lot of money to pay for food and toys (that is about as deep as I can get with his short attention span).

Hopefully these lessons in giving stick with him throughout his life.