This December make room for less stuff

If you are like me when December approaches you find yourself wondering how to make the holidays more about human connections and less about stuff. Investing your time and money in others is a gift that never gets old. Yet we all know the reality of the season: a gift list longer than Santa’s and a calendar with more priorities than time.

North Shore United Way offers ideas to help families and individuals simplify the holiday season and make room for the kinds of charitable acts that will improve the lives of others.

FOR FAMILIES & KIDS

If you enjoy baking together, set aside an afternoon to drop off cookies to the police, fire station, or ambulance company-places where people are on call during the holidays. They will be glad to know their community appreciates their service.

Engage young crafters in decorating cards that can be distributed to patients at your local hospital, nursing home, or shelter.

Set aside a quiet night in December to make no-sew fleece hats together. Or, assemble small gift bags with personal care items. These can be delivered to your local shelter or a community meals program. Find an agency here.

Select one gift you usually receive to instead be a give-away. Each family member can independently research a charitable donation that would be meaningful for them to have made in their name. When you exchange ideas you may learn something new about each other.

As kids make holiday wish lists, have them also select the same number of toys to donate to a child in need. Find a list of nonprofits seeking in-kind donations here.

FOR EVERYONE

Rethink decorations: pick your favorites that require no or low electricity use. At the end of the season, compare your electric bill with last year’s and donate the savings to a meaningful charity.

Add a note in your calendar to shop for kids’ winter coats when stores run deep discounts later in the winter. Store them in your attic until next fall when it will feel great to deliver them to a childcare center or headstart program full of kids who need them.

If you are hosting a party where people usually bring you hostess gifts, ask instead for grocery gift cards. Even $10 is enough for a hot meal for a family. When you receive all the cards, bring them to your local food pantry who will know who needs them most.

While the itch to volunteer may come in December, your time is short and so is the time of many nonprofits. Use the time you do have to consider what you care about most. Think and talk about your priorities for 2015. In honor of the season, North Shore United Way created a stream of featured volunteer opportunities with our partners. These will stay up all month long, helping you find a meaningful way to put your time to work to truly improve the lives of others.

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Sarah Bartley is a project manager at the North Shore United Way, which invests almost $1M each year in local causes that improve the lives of children, families, and seniors on the North Shore. For more information about the programs funded by NSUW donors, visit nsuw.org. Find a volunteer opportunity at volunteer.nsuw.org.