Last week I mentioned my trip to Washington DC and the Share Our Strength Conference of Leaders. In my post, I was talking about making hunger awareness part of my reality. It’s been a shift in the way I think, and I have been trying to do small things to make the fight against hunger a part of my daily life.
Wondering what you can do to help? Here are a few opportunities that I have noticed during the past week…
- Put Your “Bonus Points” to Work – Many grocery stores give away free turkeys this time of year. My grocery store gives the opportunity to donate your turkey to a local food bank. It doesn’t cost a thing, but it can make Thanksgiving special for a family in need.
- Gifts That Give Back – Not long after Thanksgiving (a matter of hours, actually), the frenzy of Christmas shopping begins. Check out the list of Share Our Strength partners and consider purchasing gifts that give back this year. For many of them, you can even shop online and avoid the busy shopping malls – it’s a win-win!
- Discover Local Hunger Fighters – This time of year, many of the local food banks and organizations fighting hunger are out in full force. If you’re not familiar with the groups in your area, keep your eyes and ears open. Just yesterday, I heard a spot on the radio for a local food bank that is collecting donations at convenience stores and gas stations. Many grocery stores will also have drop boxes where you can donate non perishable items. Once you are aware of the organizations, you can find out how to continue to help, even after the holidays are over!
Keeping my eyes and ears open for opportunities to help in my community has also made me very aware of all of the things that I have to be grateful for. I am especially grateful for the fact that I have been blessed with the opportunity and ability to help those who are less fortunate than I am. What an amazing gift!
In addition to sharing a few of my ideas for joining the fight against hunger, I would also like to introduce all of you to Tweetsgiving. I think we all have something (many things, really) to be grateful for. I know I do! So, this year, I will be participating in Tweetsgiving to spread the gratitude. Check out the video below and consider joining in yourself… There’s still plenty of time to get involed!
TweetsGiving 2009 from LittlePurpleCow Productions on Vimeo.
i love your generous spirit! great post! i run a local food pantry here in SLC and i love this idea of sharing/giving through blogging! thanks :)
Thanks for your time and effort in posting about this. I found a local foodbank here in Indiana and it makes me feel like I’m helping those in my own area. I also think it’s a great idea that many of the grocery stores and WalMart have displays with bags already filled with groceries to donate. Just put the bag in your cart and pay for it when you pay for your groceries. Then back into the foodbank container. How easy is that?
Such great ways to give back Jen! I think the turkey one is great and my markets have boxes up front to donate non-perishable foods.