When you’re making your holiday gift list this year would you consider giving a gift that keeps on giving? Over the years our friends and families have realized that the holidays (to us anyway) are more about spending time with each other.  If we do exchange they are heartfelt gifts, not just something to purchase quickly with no thought or effort and to be tucked into a drawer and forgotten about.  It has really made the holidays much less stressful, and certainly more enjoyable.

We have been making a donation in family members names to the Heifer organization the last few years.  This goes towards providing a family with a goat, or chickens, or rabbits, etc.  The saying about teaching a man to fish is the heart of this program. They educate the recipients of the “livestock gift” on how to care for it, how to obtain a sustainable source of food and income, and how to educate others in their community.  Plus, they must agree to “pass on the gift” with the first offspring to others in their villages.  This is making a profound difference in the lives of many.

Take a look at their website: www.heifer.org for all of their initiatives, and how you can get involved and/or donate.  It always feels good to me to be able to give back in some way, how about you?

This is the time of year that many people are looking inside themselves and decide to volunteer in their communities. It’s a time of year that many acknowledge with gratitude how blessed their life’s are and want to “give back” or “pay it forward”.  However, it’s also glaring how many non-profits are hurting for volunteers right now.  One of the groups I support has been actively looking for more volunteers.  Numerous people have had to go back to work and don’t have the free time they once had, or because of rising gas costs feel they can’t participate any longer.

If you are in a position to support with either time or monetarily, I know the Seniors in the programs would sincerely appreciate it.

Meals on Wheels delivers hot meals primarily to homebound persons over the age of 60 who are unable to cook or shop for themselves.  Deliveries are made each weekday, and sometimes the contact a client has with a volunteer driver may be the only person they interact with all day.  So it is as much a social visit as well as providing a nourishing meal.

For more information visit: Meals on Wheels and if local in the Contra Costa County visit: Senior Outreach Services.

“Take control of your destiny or someone else will”