Homestead & Bread 
 

  "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat."

Matthew 35:25

Picture
Be generous with canned food donations.

  Did you know 1 in 8 Americans is at risk for hunger?

Many churches/organizations collect non-perishable food during the Holiday Season.

My daughter is a scout and her troop collects non-perishable food items during the  month of November and distributes the donations to local food banks.

Food banks are suffering in a bad economy; families tighten the belt and donations to food banks decline.

  My Tip:

Shop for food banks around the year, not just during the Holiday Season.

  Every time I go grocery shopping I buy 1-2 items suitable for a food drive, any free items I get with coupons are designated for donation as well. We keep those food items on a separate shelf in the pantry. I also pick up toiletry items this way, a few days ago I bought 5 tubes of toothpaste for 50 cents each and 5 deodorants 50 cents each (with coupons), the next day my daughter brought a flyer home from school requesting toiletry donations.

  Visit Feeding America: Faces of Hunger site:http://feedingamerica.org/faces-of-hunger.aspx

 
Feeding America provides low-income individuals and families with the fuel to survive and even thrive. As  the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity, our network members supply food to more than 25 million Americans each year, including 9 million children and 3 million seniors. Serving the entire United
States, more than 200 member food banks operate 63,000 agencies that address hunger in all of its forms. For more information on how you can fight hunger in your community and across the country, visit www.feedingamerica.org.

 Many Blessings,
Melanie

 

 
 
Picture
 Making a Difference this Holiday Season #1

-       Place a quarter in every Salvation Army bucket you see. Make sure to have a couple of quarters with you before leaving the house. Let your kids put the money in the bucket.

Visit their website at: http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/usn/www_usn_2.nsf/vw-local/Home

Many Blessings,

Melanie

 
 
Picture
 Making a Difference this Holiday Season

"If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth."

1 John 3:17-18

Charitable giving fell last year by the largest percentage in five decades, according to a new study by the Giving USA Foundation.

Now I am aware that most of us can’t spare hundreds of dollars, but there are “cheap” or free ways to make a difference. I think it is very important for us as parents to teach our children to show kindness and grow a charitable heart. Also, we need to teach our children that charity and kindness should be done privately without the want to be recognized or praised, that contradicts the act of charity.

 

“Do all the good  you can and make as little as fuss about it as possible.”  Charles Dickens

 

 "Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

 "So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Matthew 6:1-4

 

 I think it is wrong to force children to do charitable work, instead find something that the whole family can enjoy and feel proud of.

 

Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.  

2 Corinthians 9:7

 

Sit together with your family and discuss ways to make a difference this Holiday Season, make a list, print and put on the fridge,

I will post several tips over the next few weeks.

Many Blessings,

Melanie