A Season of Thanks - Little Things Make a Big Difference
Thanksgiving has been a powerful family holiday in the United States since the 1700s. Though the words said have changed, the feeling and the way it is celebrated have changed very little. Families and communities gather to share food during a time of bounty just before the winter. Whether you hold to the traditional story of pilgrims or the even older tradition of giving thanks in autumn, now is the time of year to reflect on what is good in life, and how to share that goodness with others.
In a season of thanks, it is important to recognize things to be thankful for, and also how others might benefit from small gestures and giving thanks to others. Start the giving season early with little things that make a big difference in the lives of others.
Donate What You Don't Need
Explore the depths of your kitchen, closet, and storage areas to discover all sorts of things you've been living without, without noticing. Everything you don't need can be donated to someone for whom it will make a difference.
Donating is easy to do, there are always food, clothing, and supply drives happening in your local community. Often, you can get your donating done through your child's school or your workplace. Just be sure to look up the charitable organization first, before you make a choice where to drop your donation off to.
Buy Supplies for Someone Else's Holiday
Want to go all-out making someone else's season brighter? Put together a holiday-in-a-box. Include a box of stuffing, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce. Throw in green beans, cream of mushroom, and french onions for a traditional casserole. Grab a few packets of gravy mix, cider mix, and a box cake mix with icing (or a pie crust and can of filling) for dessert. Crown it with the frozen turkey.
To be extra thoughtful, include things like a stack of plastic plates, cups, flatware, a roasting pan, plastic serving dishes, napkins, hand sanitizer, and disinfecting wipes to make a clean, wonderful family meal with all the details. Now you have a family dinner as an easy-to-transport gift. You can sign up to be the angel for one family, find a charity that accepts dinner kits, or a charity that helps you combine efforts with other donors to make complete dinner kits.
Participate in Giving Tuesday - the World Giving Day
Giving Tuesday is a recent world celebration recognizing the value of dedicating a day, or an entire month, to giving thanks and donating to a meaningful charity effort. Making someone's life better, providing a holiday dinner, or uplifting someone from a bad situation is worth a holiday on its own, whether or not there were once pilgrims who learned to eat corn.
The global holiday of Giving Tuesday takes place on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving Thursday and is celebrated by charity organizations and families all over the world. Find a charity doing something you care about, verify where donations go, and make your difference on a local or global scale.
Buy-One, Give-One
You're going to stock up for the holidays and winter season. You'll need plenty of masks, hand sanitizer, firewood, wrapping paper, and pasta to name just a few seasonal essentials. Look for opportunities to buy one, give one like with Muse Health. Companies that donate along with your purchase increase your ability to make a difference while also making smart choices on supplies for your family this season. Muse Health will donate one bottle of moisturizing hand sanitizer to someone in need with each bottle purchased.
Give Blood This Season
The healthcare system has never been more strained, and one of the things they always need is blood. In a time when most celebrate with extra calories, this is the perfect season to find your local blood drive. Hospitals need blood for transfusions to save people who have been injured, people who have toxifying illnesses, and those who suffer from anemic conditions like kidney disease or leukemia. Every blood type is valuable and every donation could save a life. This is one of the most direct and effective ways to give back during the holiday season.
Join or Organize a Turkey Run / Turkey Drive
A Turkey Run is a fun community event, essentially a charity jog where neighbors get together and pool their donations. Organize a turkey drive alongside, have each participating family donate a turkey (or more, if they want) along with the cans and non-perishable mixes from clearing every pantry. Turkey runs are an opportunity to make fun costumes and socialize at house-to-house distances. If you're the organizer type, you can even get local businesses involved.
Support a Healthcare Worker
Last but not least, help a healthcare worker in your life. Right now, over half of the healthcare providers from heads of surgery to student nurses are exhausted and overworked. If there is a healthcare worker in your family or group of friends, reach out and offer to lift their non-healthcare burden a little, or give gifts of shoe inserts, moisturizing hand sanitizer, and every-angle ballpoint pens to make their daily lives a little easier.
Muse Health is dedicated to helping others through a moisturizing hand sanitizer that prevents the dry hands of constant cleanliness, which is why they offer the buy one, give one program for matching donations with this year's customer purchases. Through big projects or small projects this year, working together can help keep more people safe during the upcoming holiday season.