WINTER HOLIDAYS

• Volunteer to set up, decorate, register guests, serve lunch, or sell raffle tickets at a community event for the elderly, students, or a nonprofit organization.
• Sort, wrap, organize, or deliver holiday presents for people who can’t do it themselves.
• Celebrate senior citizens or students by having a special holiday dinner. Set up the dining room, prepare and serve dinner, visit, and play holiday games.
• Prepare treats for neighbors, emergency workers, mail carriers, coworkers, military personnel, or other community members, along with a note of appreciation. Before mailing packages or letters to military service personnel, contact your local American Red Cross chapter for current procedures and regulations.
• “Adopt” a family, child, or senior citizen and spend time with them, especially during the winter holidays.
• Call an animal shelter and find out what donations they need. Collect things like treats, food, first aid supplies, toys, cat litter, and blankets for the homeless animals.
• For a charity, volunteer to distribute or deliver clothes, food, and gifts.
• Dress up as a holiday helper and visit neighbors and friends.
• Make or teach holiday crafts.
• Mentor, tutor, or teach youth, especially before final exams.
• Organize, clean up, or provide entertainment for holiday parties and get-togethers.
• Give a donation to a charity as a gift for someone who already has everything.
• Donate gift certificates to be given to families in need during the holidays.
• Volunteer for a meal delivery service. Bring kindness and warmth, as well as food, to the homebound.
• Collect coats, hats, gloves, socks, scarves, boots or other warm items for the various homeless shelters to be distributed before the cold sets in.
• Delay adopting a dog or cat until a couple of weeks after the winter holidays. Just like other gift returns, far too many dogs and cats offered as presents end up in animal shelters.
• Visit a neighbor and help him or her prepare for the holidays.
• Help decorate a senior center or an elementary school for the winter holidays.
• Sing or carol throughout your neighborhood.
• Volunteer at an animal shelter or pet-sit for a neighbor during the holiday season.
• Organize a diverse holiday exhibit or parade to kick off the holiday season. Showcase different celebrations, such as Kwanzaa, Christmas, Hanukkah, and Ramadan.
• Plan and help with holiday activities for homeless children.
• Participate in family-oriented activities, such as helping together in a soup kitchen or sponsoring a homeless family.
• Design and send homemade holiday cards and send them to people in the military, homeless shelters, or nursing homes.
• Perform acts of kindness rather than buying gifts.
• Provide transportation for elderly neighbors to help with their holiday gift or grocery shopping.
• Serve holiday meals at a shelter, soup kitchen, community center, or faith organization.
• Put together a notebook and fill it with holiday kindness stories. Share these treasures with your peers and family.
• Cut out the pictures from holiday greeting cards, and send them to a charity that uses them for projects.
• Help an elderly neighbor or nursing home resident with holiday decorations.