Like most of you mommies we are trying to raise our kiddos to care for others. Its not always an easy task, but it is a worthwhile one. There a multitude of ways to give this holiday season, but I wanted to share with you a way that we have used to try and help this concept sink in with E.
We have a local ministry in the area called Kids Cafe. Our cafe is run by a local church in connection with Feeding America. Kids Cafe is a program that provides transportation and meals to children in need from the community. Our current chapter feeds about 130 kids each week, and gives them food to take home, too. It functions completely on the generosity of donors and volunteers! Our youth group has gone several times to help serve these kids, and we have started taking E with us when we go.
E was really excited to get to go with the youth:
Because of privacy concerns I can’t post any pics of the kiddos there, but I can tell you the impact this has on your kid. E got to sit and play with the kids, some of which were her own age. She was more than happy to play and eat and fellowship. Serving was FUN, and because of the joy she got out of it, she is more that willing to go back again.
If you would like to find a program like this in your area you can check out this list of local Food Banks by State. Contact the one in your area and they will let you know how you can get involved. If a Kids Cafe isn’t in your area, visit a food bank and make a donation. I am sure the volunteers there will be happy to show you and your kiddo around.
That is soo great! I love looking for ways to get my own children in the community to serve other children. – We live in a small town, and do not have those types of organizations. We recently participated in a service project for homeless children in our community – you can check out that idea here.
https://watchthemgrowluke8.blogspot.com/2011/11/service-project-love-child.html
That is so great! I love looking for way to get my own children out serving others. We live in a small town and do not have Kids Cafe. We were able to participate in a Service Project with our play group. We called it Love a Child. You can check it out here.
https://watchthemgrowluke8.blogspot.com/2011/11/service-project-love-child.html
This is great! I serve with my boys at a soup kitchen once a month and my 5 year old loves going and is really starting to get it!
Thank you for mentioning Feeding America in your post. Thank you for the support!
– Ryan Young (https://feedingamerica.org)