Teaching Kids the Gift of Giving

If there was ever a good time to teach your kids about charity, this is it.

While the holidays bring an abundance of parties, indulgence and let’s face it: toys, they are also ripe with opportunities to give back.

Now, don’t get me wrong; I’m not trying to stand on my little soapbox here and bully anyone into donating money over the holidays. The truth of the matter is that a good majority of us do it anyway – even when we are tight on cash to begin with.

However, it’s worth reminding my fellow busy parents that this is a great time to involve kids in the process. Lessons like this can last a lifetime – and I’m a perfect example.

When I was young, my father was an editor for The Boston Globe. Although I can’t exactly claim that having a connection like that turned me into a news junkie, it did have its perks. We got a free newspaper everyday, got to tour the printing plants whenever we wanted, and most of all, we had an “in” with Globe Santa.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Globe Santa, it’s a wonderful program whereby donations from all over the state are used to help financially strapped parents buy their kids presents for Christmas.

Each morning during the holiday season, the Globe prints a story of a deserving recipient (you can’t read a single one without crying) along with a listing of everyone who has donated that day.

As a child growing up in Wayland with a father who remembered the Great Depression, we were always reminded of how lucky we were to have a home, food on the table, and to never take any of it for granted.

Each year at Christmastime, my Dad would sit down with my sisters and me and ask how much we would be donating to Globe Santa. Although we may have earned our money by raking leaves or simply saved it from birthday cards and the like, we considered the experience a special occasion and looked forward to breaking into our little piggybanks.

Our donations were made extra special by the aforementioned “pull” that our Dad had with his friends in the layout department. Picture the three Meek girls, circa 1979 when they saw this on the front page of the Boston Globe each Christmas Day:

            1979: Murdoch, Lex and Lynn from Wayland…..$12.57

When I became a parent, I wanted to honor my Dad as well as support this wonderful organization and hopefully pass on the tradition to my own children. Over the past 10 years, I have dragged the Shumway kids all over Boston donating to Globe Santa. They know that Grampa Bill used to know him personally (true story) and that their Mom did it when she was a kid, so it’s something that they take very seriously.

After a discussion this weekend about the kids whose parents don’t have jobs or enough money for a house, Georgia decreed “I’ll give 10 bucks to Globe Santa.” Ben quickly followed suit and we now begin the process of watching the paper each day for their names. The pride in their faces when it appears brings tears to my eyes.

            2011: Ben, Georgia and Quinn Shumway from Dedham….$20.00

And so when you’re getting ready to write that check to Globe Santa or donate to Toys for Tots, remember to include your kids. While it’s so important to help others at this time of year, don’t pass up the opportunity to create a tradition of giving that will last for entire generation!