Like a lot of parents, Shea and I struggle with how to make sure that our kids (especially Pace now that he’s getting older) understand that Christmas is not just about getting gifts but also about giving.
Other years we’ve done things like put toys in Santa Anonymous Bins or other charitable giving. But this has always been done in a very piecemeal fashion and didn’t always involve the kids either.
This year, we decided to do it in a more formal way – we told Pace that we were going to give him $100 to donate and that he could pick both the charities and the amounts.
After some discussion and guidance about possible charities and why they made sense, Pace decided to split the $100 into five $20 donations.
He decided to donate to:
Regina Open Door Society because he has classmates from Syria who likely benefited from the good work of RODS over the past year.
The Saskatchewan Cancer Agency because both grandfathers have dealt with or are currently dealing with cancer.
Saskatchewan Diabetes Association because both maternal grandparents are diabetic and also because his mom moved to a job as a diabetic educator in the past year.
Saskatchewan Children’s Hospital because it helps kids who are sick.
STARS because the son of a family friend who rents his grandpa’s farm land benefited from STARS air ambulance this past year.
Did we reach him? Well, when we were done, he said “Can I go back to my movie now?” But perhaps we’ve planted the seed for another family holiday tradition?
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