I used to save all my change, pennies, dimes, etc. Twice a year, in June (my birthday) and December I would roll all the change myself – no dumping it in the machines for a 10% fee- and give it to charity. Those were my two favorite nights of the year! June was usually the month I gave to the Humane Society and December was Toys for Tots or a woman’s shelter. I started this when I was 16 or 17, and didn’t miss a year until recently. I never had a lot of money, in fact most years was struggling to pay bills and buy things for the people close to me, so this was the way I found that I could give back. Never was the donation more than $200 and never was it less than $50, not significant really, but huge for me. I always wished it could be more, and some years, I did have the money to give more. Now, my husband gives all the change to the kids and they spend it on kid crap. Well, kid crap is important, but what are we teaching our kids?
My family is very lucky to be where we are this year. It is a very fine line between our current status in life and living in a car – ok, well, my parents house – with FOUR kids and a dog. WE are very fortunate, not only to have a roof over our head, food in the pantry and the electricity on, but also to be giving and receiving gifts this season.
I had a very traumatic experience this year, and in the time that has passed since then, I have learned the real gifts to me have come from near strangers, sometimes, actual strangers. After watching me direct and try to corral my two youngest at Publix last week, a gentleman commented on my patience (hahahaha!) and the time I took to actually explain things to my incredibly frustrating at times 2 year old. It made me stop and think for a second that the little things I do might be noticed and, dare I say it? Appreciated?
Anyway, the only reason those two things are even remotely related are because I had kind of given up on the whole “save and roll the change for charity” thing. My family wasn’t participating easily, it was a daily struggle, and the amount of money given eventually seemed not worth the struggle to me. Now, it seems the opposite and an excellent thing to have the whole family participate in. Sometimes it is the smallest of gestures that makes all the difference in the world. I am sure the guy at the store had no idea I was thinking about what he said nearly a week later, let alone taking time to blog about it. And, maybe my $50 bought a coat for a little girl who wouldn’t have otherwise had one. Maybe I saved an animals life. Maybe a mom was able to buy her kids a Christmas present with money I donated, like I was able to do today for my kids.
The moral: there is no “small” gesture.

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