3 ideas for the holiday season
View(s):Everyone understands that the price of groceries have risen to an unmanageable level. As a New Year’s gift, pick three families, ask them what essentials they need for the household (simple, imperishable items like rice, flour, dhal, milk powder, soap, toothpaste, laundry detergent), and buy the necessary quantities for the month of January. You could easily turn this into a New Year’s resolution and buy one family their groceries for one week at the beginning of each month, alternating between selected families through the year.
A lot of people will visit scenic locations during the holidays – such as Galle, Trincomalee, NuwaraEliya, Batticaloa. How often, though, do you stop and notice the residents of those towns? Why not reach out to a non-urban part of Sri Lanka and help the youth populations there. While out on a holiday, look for a small school in that region. Choose a class or a grade and donate stationery to the children. If the holiday location is somewhere your family goes regularly, this act could easily turn into a long-term support system. Select a few students and sponsor their education. Check up on their progress every time you make a trip there with your family and establish a personal connection with them.
And finally, a more ‘fun’ suggestion. Most people complain about ‘getting too fat’ over the holidays, eating all the sweetmeats ‘forced’ onto us by over-enthusiastic relatives. Needless to say, this ‘fatness’ has a certain amount of personal choice in it. Instead of force-feeding your guests all the delicious goodness your family may make or buy, hold a holiday celebration for an orphanage and give them the sweets that would have otherwise been forced on people who may not actually have wanted them.
Take a group of children known to you too: younger siblings and their friends, your children and their friends, cousins, etc. Help them to understand that there is a world outside of the comfort zone they know and demonstrate what a beautiful feeling it is to truly share and care with those less fortunate.
This article was written by a Stitch volunteer. For more information on how to get involved email info@stitchmovement.com or visit www.stitchmovement.com