Back in September, I was running a challenge in the ‘Be the Mum’ Facebook Group about making the most of the last 100 days of 2020.
I created a couple of handouts that you could use for goal tracking, and when one of my boys saw the ‘100 Hearts’ handout, we started talking about ways you can use these tools. On the spot, we created a goal to use the tracking sheet and attempt to make 100 Donations before the end of 2020.
Well, we had good intentions and we’re over half-way there, but we probably won’t quite make it by the end of the year, but this blog post is giving you an update and I’d love to hear if there are any other ideas of what we can donate!
Here’s where we’ve been able to donate so far. A few of them have been done multiple times, but we always include them on our goal-tracker!
- Regular monthly donations to charities (we have three we give to every month)
- Donations of food and Christmas toys and books to community pantries
- Donating toys for the ‘Giving Tree’ at shops like Kmart and Big W
- Blood donations (my husband does this one, I’m not good at it!)
- Collecting bottles and cans for recycling and donating to charity
- Donation of second-hand items to charity shops
- Fundraising days at school
- Operation Christmas Child boxes by Samaritans Purse
- Donations of time and service at our church, plus some materials needed for craft activities
- ‘Rounding up’ donations at supermarkets during checkout
- Giving coins to people collecting money on the street
- Donation of baby items to mother’s refuges
- Donations to various charity ‘Christmas Appeals’ and gift catalogues
- Donation to Ronald McDonald McHappy Day
- Donations of gifts to someone making hampers for people in hospital
- Donating Books to the Lifeline Book Fair
- Dropping coins into donation tins at store checkouts
Of course, one of the major reasons we started this project was to get a discussion going around how fortunate we are and how many opportunities there are to be kind and give back to others. Even though I have been ‘driving’ most of the conversations, it has been exciting to talk to my kids about what I was able to give away that day – and now my oldest is even getting interested in reading the newsletters that come from the charities that we support.
If there were any lessons in what I could do better, it’s to carry more coins – there were many other opportunities to donate, but I haven’t carried much cash this year. The other lessons are about persevering as you work towards a goal, and the fact that even if you don’t reach it in the timeframe you planned, it’s still something worth working towards! I’d love to hear if you have any other donation ideas that you have done?
