Christmas time is my favorite part of the year and I always get into the giving spirit. Honestly, the season changes me and I’m just nicer overall. Not saying that I’m mean spirited and not willing to help others during the rest of the year, but there’s just something about the holiday season that especially brings those things out in me. So when the wonderful folks over at Hasbro asked me to partner in the Joy Maker Challenge, I happily accepted!
They sent me 50 toys to hand out as I saw fit within my community and I started brainstorming ideas. I wanted to make a huge impact, something bigger than just a simple donation. I knew that I really wanted to help out families who couldn’t afford things for Christmas so the first thing I did was create a form for people to fill out and I shared it in my local rummage group on Facebook. I asked people to fill it out if they knew someone going through hard financial times, or if they themselves were struggling this season.
I was able to help 6 families through this particular initiative and stories of the families that I did help, really struck a cord with me. Once woman signed up for her best friend’s family who have 3 children and the husband recently lost his job out of nowhere. When I took the toys to our meeting location, she was in tears and gave me a big hug for helping to make the holidays a little bit brighter for this struggling family.
My husband actually had the clever idea for our next Joy Maker Challenge – donating toys to Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin. I thought it was an excellent idea because I couldn’t stand the thought of my own child being in the hospital during the holidays. Those kids really need some joy in their lives!
I did talk to hospital staff beforehand and unfortunately they weren’t able to allow us to give the gifts personally, due to health and safety concerns for the children. I can’t say that I wasn’t a little bit bummed because I was really looking forward to the children’s smiling faces but at the same time, I understood where they were coming from. So the kids and I loaded the car up with unwrapped presents and headed to the hospital.
The staff was so excited to see such a large donation and they handed us a certificate of appreciation!
The?Joy Maker Challenge taught my family a lot about giving and the fact that you don’t have to “go all out” – that any act of kindness is?worth giving, large or small. Some simple acts for the Joy Maker Challenge?include:
- Making heartfelt cards and sending to kids in need
- Creating care packages for your local food pantry
- Feeding the homeless
- Donating your time
Get the Kids Involved!
Hasbro will donate one toy (up to $1,000,000 worth) for every kid or teen who volunteers through the?Joy Maker Challenge. There are great ideas on ways to volunteer in your community on the Joy Maker Challenge website. Make sure to share your family’s story about volunteering on the site, so that Hasbro can make a donation!
What other ideas do you have to?help to spread the holiday cheer?