A Time of Giving

This season brings a variety of emotions for individuals – both positive and negative. Some have memories of the Christmas season that are not the greatest. Worse than that, for some, Christmas is a painful time. For some, getting together with family during the holiday season can be very stressful. In contrast, for others, the magic that is the Christmas season is alive and well in their memories and in their hearts.

One may wonder how to change the negative feelings around this season. There are many things people can do to make the Christmas season positive. If you have negative memories around this season, take action and do something positive to change what this season means to you. Make new memories which will forever change the way you feel about this season. To do this, it is imperative to remember that this Christmas season is one of giving. Giving to others warms your heart and soul and will also make a real difference in the lives of others.

Here are a few ways our students, staff, students, and community are giving this holiday season.

1. We have two businesses who have come to us to offer support of some of our families. They will be providing some of our most needy families with both food and presents for the children.

2. One of our student’s parents has also offered to buy gifts for a family so that the children do not go without this holiday season.

3. Our staff has a Giving Tree in the staffroom. On this tree are gift tags with a variety of gift options for a couple of our families. There are items such as socks and underwear, gloves and scarves, and toys. Most of the items on the gift tags are for basic items which many of us take for granted. When the gifts are purchased and wrapped, they will be brought back to school and added to a box for each particular family. Here is a phot of our Giving Tree.

4. Each year, our school does a Food Drive for the local Food Bank. Our school has many great ways of encouraging students and staff to bring items (or money) for the Food Bank. For instance, last week, if students wanted to watch the Student VS Staff volleyball game, they had to bring a donation for the Food Bank. Another wonderful way to raise money is the Cookie for a Can event that is happening this week. All three Grade 6 classes made chocolate chip cookies today. The hallways smelled incredible! All the cookies (over 1000, I believe) were packaged up and will be sold to students and staff on Wednesday. Students can buy one cookie for .25 or bring a can of food for a cookie. What a great experience for all students! They got to bake and will get to raise money for the Food Bank as well. Win win, I’d say.

Here are a few pictures of the baking extravaganza:

The students, staff, and family members make me so proud to be a part of our school. Their generosity and commitment in helping others is phenomenal. Remember, my school is considered to be an Inner-City school, yet the children here are very excited and motivated to help others who ay need help. You can’t get much better than that.

Giving feels good, heals difficulty memories of the past, makes new memories, and changes lives.  So, my question to you is, what are you and/or your school doing to help promote the culture of giving and generosity this holiday season? What are you doing to bring your community together? How are you brightening someone’s holiday season? How will you make a difference? How will you encourage your students and their family’s to make a difference?

ETA…

Thank you to @CliveSir for sharing this video, which reminded him of my blogpost.