Family Service Challenge Presentation and a Match Challenge

I sent out a post last week talking about a presentation for the Family Service Challenge. In conjunction with the presentation we held a Pajama Drive for the Orangewood Childrens Home. We end up with 58 pair of PJs to donate. I shared with them that I would issue the challenge to the families who are participating in the Family Service Challenge to see if we could match their donation of 58 pair. Some of you have already contacted me with a desire to add to the pajama bounty. Any possibility of letting friends and neighbors help. Honestly, it was so affirming to me to see the generosity of this office. In addition, the spirit was there as this office looked at photos of projects from the Family Service Challenge and came together to give on behalf of the children.

All the best!

From the Mouth of Babes

One of our participants responds to the promptings of the Spirit:

Our little family had a wonderful experience with a homeless family...after choir practice one late afternoon we happened to be playing on the side yard of a ward building which is on quite a busy street in Newport when this family of a mom, dad & little boy probably around 3 or 4 years old asked if the church was open. I went on to explain that there is no clergy here but if I could offer assistance. They were looking for any type of food voucher or hotel voucher. This father proceeded to tell us that they were homeless & they weren't familiar with the area. I explained that I wasn't either (too bad we weren't in Los Al, with WeCare). So with my small children by my side & listening so closely to this mans words we decided to help. We provided a hotel room for the night & amazingly (we know who was behind this, Heavenly Father) we STILL had a ton of canned goods in the back of the car from the Family Service Challenge activity. So we found a grocery bag & filled it with some food & water for the family. The kids had a lot of questions & it was a perfect opportunity to talk about how blessed we are & how important it is that we help others. And the sweetest part of this was that our 6 year old, on her own said,"Do you think Heavenly Father knew that we would meet this family & that's why we still had this food in our car..?" It really was an experience that our little family will never forget. We often talk about the little boy & how he was so excited to receive a fruit snack.

How to Make Giving a Habit: The Giving Box

From the Families with a Purpose Website

http://www.familieswithpurpose.com/

We began the tradition of Giving Boxes when our two oldest girls were 6 and 4. We wanted to find a simple hands on way of helping them understand the importance of giving to those less fortunate and thus spawned our idea for the Giving Box. Every week our girls earn a $3 allowance by doing small age appropriate chores around the house . The first dollar is for their "purses" or own personal spending. The second dollar is for what we call their "education" savings (right now it is simply a small bank they keep in their bedroom). The third dollar is for the Giving Box. We collect our weekly dollars and as opportunities arise such as the Toys for Tots campaign during the holidays, or the Hat and Mitten tree at our church, or the local food drive for the homeless shelter we take the dollars from the box and go to the store to make our purchases. As a family we then deliver them where they need to go. We have found by actually letting the girls use the dollars to purchase physical items such as toys, clothing, or food and by letting them participate in the delivery they have a better understanding of how they can help. Remember, the dollar amount isn't what is important, but rather the sence of compassion you are inspiring in your children by teaching them to set aside some of their "earnings" for those less fortunate.