12 Days of Giving, Day 1
Last year, my 12 Days of Giving was so fun, but got cut off when we experienced our miscarriage. I knew all year that I wanted to do it again this year, so I planned a little more ahead and tried to get things together earlier. I'm still working on some of them, but I had my list pulled together and started collecting things that I would donate earlier on.
Again this year, I'm not necessarily spending 12 actual days, especially with the baby, but I have chosen 12 organizations and am trying to spread it out between this past weekend and the end of the year. My friend Tressa decided to join me this year, which was really exciting! So we created the list together and we're both focusing on giving back to 12 local and/or important-to-us organizations.
For Day 1, I volunteered at CUMC's Jubilee Christmas. This was the third or fourth year that I've done this with Shell and it's always so fun. The church joins up with Lafayette Urban Ministries to find families in need of a boost for the holidays. Then members of the church buy things for the children in those families, and the church also provides stockings, a basket filled with toilet paper, laundry detergent, and other essentials, a huge box filled with food for the family and even a giftcard to get groceries. There is also a "shopping" room where the families get to go and select toys for each of their children and there is a huge collection of gently used clothing for both children and adults that they can go through.
In the past, I've always been a wrapper. Each family is assigned one hostess and a wrapper. I love wrapping gifts, so I've enjoyed that in the past, but I was excited to change it up this year and be a hostess. It was really fun because I got to know the mom of my family much better than in the past. Her name was Brittany and she has an adorable little boy. She was really sweet and so incredibly appreciative.
As always, I was really touched by the entire day. A lot of people come together to make Christmas special for many many families. It's always a really fun day and I look forward to it all year long!
Again this year, I'm not necessarily spending 12 actual days, especially with the baby, but I have chosen 12 organizations and am trying to spread it out between this past weekend and the end of the year. My friend Tressa decided to join me this year, which was really exciting! So we created the list together and we're both focusing on giving back to 12 local and/or important-to-us organizations.
For Day 1, I volunteered at CUMC's Jubilee Christmas. This was the third or fourth year that I've done this with Shell and it's always so fun. The church joins up with Lafayette Urban Ministries to find families in need of a boost for the holidays. Then members of the church buy things for the children in those families, and the church also provides stockings, a basket filled with toilet paper, laundry detergent, and other essentials, a huge box filled with food for the family and even a giftcard to get groceries. There is also a "shopping" room where the families get to go and select toys for each of their children and there is a huge collection of gently used clothing for both children and adults that they can go through.
In the past, I've always been a wrapper. Each family is assigned one hostess and a wrapper. I love wrapping gifts, so I've enjoyed that in the past, but I was excited to change it up this year and be a hostess. It was really fun because I got to know the mom of my family much better than in the past. Her name was Brittany and she has an adorable little boy. She was really sweet and so incredibly appreciative.
As always, I was really touched by the entire day. A lot of people come together to make Christmas special for many many families. It's always a really fun day and I look forward to it all year long!
