Winter is the season of love, joy, and hope! With big tidings, it brings the opportunity to spread cheer and extend a helping hand to those in need. Instead of just sitting by the fireplace beside the Christmas tree counting gifts, let’s make this ‘season of giving’ even more celebratory and meaningful by working towards ways to give back to the community.
Organize a Snow Patrol
According to past estimates, about 100 people die during or just after shoveling snow each year in the US. Snow becomes a slipping hazard when it goes unshoveled. As slipping and falling can cause serious injuries, icy sidewalks pose a greater risk to the elderly. This winter season, organize a snow patrol with a few of your friends to shovel the snow off the driveways and sidewalks to gift your neighbors with cleaner and safer roads.
As it’s hazardous to drive with a heap of snow on your car’s roof, assist the people in your neighborhood to clear snow and ice off their cars. To ensure further safety from inclement weather, gift them personalized custom covers and tarps.
Identify Local Causes to Support
Services that provide relief to unhoused individuals get strapped during the extreme bouts of cold or snow as more and more vulnerable citizens start to flock to shelters. Therefore, many end up on the streets, braving the chill of winter. As most cities employ emergency alerts during inclement weather, you can inform the respective authorities to help the needy find shelter.
Celebrating with family and friends doubles up the fun. This holiday season, share the joy by visiting your nearby homes for the elderly and organizations that support children without homes. You can even take gifts, cards, and candy with you to spread the holiday cheer.
You can also get involved with a local non-profit and work to raise money for charity. From ‘saving a child’s life’ to empowering women and girls, find the charities you are passionate about and want to strive to make a big impact.
Volunteer in a Local Soup Kitchen
There’s no better time than winter to volunteer at a soup kitchen. As these institutions solely depend on donations and volunteers to run the food drive, extend a helping hand to give back to the community. From assisting in cooking to serving food, you could volunteer to bring about a change in someone’s life.
Foster Animals for the Holidays
The dipping temperatures take a toll on the health of stray animals too. Save the fur babies from the fury of inclement weather and foster them until they find their forever home.
Volunteer at a local animal shelter or join the animal adoption drive to rescue abandoned pets. If you can not adopt a pet, consider donating animal supplies such as custom tarps, dog crate covers, or volunteering at animal shelters for doing myriad tasks ranging from cleaning cages to walking pets or sewing animal blankets.
If you chose to go the route of adopting a pet this holiday season, you can surprise your family with a new member and provide the animal the home and love it deserves.
Cook Some Extra Delicacies
Baking heavenly savories this festival? Get friends and family together and bake some extra to donate to your local pantry and homeless shelter. Check on the homeless and elderly in your locality and offer them a warm meal for they might otherwise go hungry this festival.
Organize a canned food drive and distribute non-perishable food items to those who might find it difficult to move out on cold winter nights. Make sure your table covers a span of foods that people will be able to make good use out of.
Bring holiday cheer to emergency responders, police officers, firefighters, and even retail workers stuck in their long-hour shifts by offering them some toothsome delicacies. Show your gratitude with these ways to go above & beyond to serve your military neighbors.
Organize a Coat Drive
As the weather turns chillier, it’s time to put your extra clothes to good use. Together with your friends and family, organize ‘coat drives’ or ‘blanket drives’ to kindle some warmth in relationships and spread happiness this season of giving. Collect some gently used winter stuff such as coats, sweaters, blankets carefully wrapped in weatherproof tarps and donate to the needy braving the bone-chilling weather.
Contact local shelters or volunteer groups, non-profits, thrift stores, and even some dry cleaners to donate the woolies and help keep those most vulnerable warm and safe all season long.
You can even choose a location in your locality where people can directly volunteer or donate their clothes and those in need can get what they want.
Support Childhood Literacy Initiatives
With a substantial number of children lacking access to proper education, volunteering your time and efforts can make a big impact on their lives. You could raise money, give donations, or run a program on tutoring underprivileged children to help them succeed in school.
You could even work with a group and initiate ‘clothes or books drives’ to collect new or used clothes, books, musical instruments, school supplies, shoes, and more for the needy.
Build and stock a free library. Create a waterproof shelving system by covering it with premium-quality custom covers and tarps. Fill it with books for children, teens, and adults. Ask your friends and neighbors to donate new or gently used books for the cause.
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