Giving Tuesday 2014
Knowing that today is Giving Tuesday is a Silver Lining start to the day! Since Thanksgiving, we’ve had plenty of days focused on shopping with “Black Friday” and “Cyber Monday” but now it’s time for the feel good day…”Giving Tuesday”.
I believe that it’s incredibly important to teach children about philanthropy early in life. By the time children turn 3, they begin to understand and respect the fact that each and every person has feelings. Therefore, children can begin to develop a sense of compassion which is the foundation of charitable thinking. Our daughter, a/k/a Excitedly Eight did her first service projects while she was in preschool.
Giving back has always been a core value of our family. We talk the talk and then walk the walk. I believe that it is incredibly important to lead by example. In fact, on Thanksgiving we started volunteering at the Organic Soup Kitchen (only in Santa Barbara, I know!). Their mission is to “provide organic, nutritious food to marginalized sectors of the community while pursuing financial, economical and environmental sustainability.” It is so, so fabulous!
Another favorite place to support is Direct Relief. As you may know they are distributing The Silver Lining Companion Guide both electronically online and in paperback to 9,000 of their community partners around the country. It is an absolutely wonderful organization that is near and dear to our hearts.
Teaching children about philanthropy, i.e., learning about giving and helping others gives children a feeling of empowerment and healthy sense of compassion. It also cultivates an an attitude of gratitude. How are those for win-win Silver Linings?
If you’re a little stumped on where/how to begin with the children in your life, there is a super cool website that I’ve recently come across that I loooove. It’s called Learning to Give. It provides philanthropy education resources that teach giving and civic engagement.
Additionally, the #GivingTuesday website offers boatloads of ideas for giving back and getting involved. It’s really great. Here is the direct link: http://givingtuesday.org/