Our Awana group is supporting Pushpyar and KimB's sweater program this holiday season. They are raising money to buy sweaters for the children of India. There it can dip into the 30's, and the children live in unheated homes, many walking 1-2 hours to school each way. We drew a wall size Christmas tree and then cut sweaters out of construction paper. Each child that brings a $1 gets to hang a sweater on the tree. The children have been very excited about this. I am encouraging the children not to stick their hands out and ask mom and dad to fill them, but to work for the money they donate. (ie - dishes, vacuuming, laundry, etc)In our house, I decided to start a "Blessings Jar." Each time one of the girls does a chore without being asked, or after being asked doesn't grumble about it, they are given some coins to put in the Blessings Jar. If they do something especially nice for one of their siblings, they are given coins to put in the Blessings Jar. And any time, we see them doing something we consider extra special or having a great attitude, they are given coins to put in the Blessings Jar.
The Blessings Jar is nothing fancy. It's just a vase with a ribbon wrapped around it. (We actually started out with an old mug) But this has become so exciting for the girls. They really like putting their coins in there. I expected there might be some grumbling - "But I could buy some candy with this!" But there's not. Liv even found some money around the house and asked if she could please put her money in the Blessings Jar. In the end, all of the money will go to buying sweaters for the kids in India. My girls are excited to be a part of this.
I hesitated about blogging about this (not sure if anyone would be interested) but one of my friends encouraged me to. Actually she said if I didn't, she would! She said others might want to do the same thing and she likes getting new ideas like this. So there you go. :)
And if you want to get involved with the sweater program, leave me a comment and I will get you the info. 100% of the money raised goes to buying the sweaters. They are purchased in India, which not only cuts down on shipping costs, but also helps the Indian economy. Each sweater costs just $7. It's a very special Christmas gift for some very needy children.
2 comments:
So glad you blogged about this! As you know I LOVE the idea and plan to implement it in my house as well. I think the blessings jar can be used all year long for various charity reasons. Such an easy way to have kids work toward helping others--and with a positive attitude.
great idea jess! I might use it too. we did a "behavior chart" of sorts for our kids this fall, with trying to get them going in the morning for school, but they earned something for themself ... I like this idea better! So, who did you meet from Syracuse that went to FHS??
Post a Comment