Raise Giving Kids Using the Beautiful Once-a-Month Strategy (March)
(Inside: Raise giving kids using this simple once-a-month strategy. It’s doable and it’s effective. Read more about raising giving kids…)
My husband and I have been working on trying to raise giving kids.
We’re using what we call the “Once a Month” strategy. We’re trying to live our lives paying attention to the needs around us. Every month we look for a need that arises in our community that we can participate in giving and serving in a tangible way.
I had in my head what I wanted to do this month, but then I got invited to go to a Shoot-a-Thon Adoption Fundraiser by a family from our church.
We don’t really know the family raising money very well, but I used to work with this family’s mother/grandmother. She shared with me a little about their adoption journey. She told me about how after hearing the story of two kids wishing to be adopted, this family was deeply moved and felt called to adopt these two children.
For about a year, this family has been trying to raise the $50,000+ that it costs to bring these kids home. This family has two biological kids, a son, and a daughter, and the kids decided to fundraise by asking people to pledge money for the number of baskets they shot. They shot baskets for eight hours.
That is dedication.
This family has figured out how to raise giving kids. Those siblings understand that sometimes sharing God’s love requires sacrifice and selfless actions.
Those are the kind of kids I want my boys to see and the kind of event I want to be a part of.
I was so moved by the story that I changed what we were going to give this month, and we spent a little time at the fundraiser. It was awesome.
Also, do you see in the picture above all the bags of cookies we bought? In the short amount of time that I was chatting with the adoptive mother, two of my boys ate six cookies each! Six!
But, that’s okay.
We got a chance to support this fabulous cause, and my boys got to see that God can move even kids to do big things.
Raise giving kids. Read more about our once-a-month giving strategy.
“The benefits of actively fostering children’s charitable impulses are enormous. Besides helping counter the overdeveloped ‘gimme’ impulse, it gives kids a powerful boost in self-esteem to realize they can make a difference in someone’s life. ‘And as corny as it sounds,’ says Patricia Schiff Estess, a New York City writer and the author of (Amazon affiliate link) Kids, Money & Values, ‘when you help a child help others, you are helping to create a better world.'”
That lesson floating around our home for a year? Yes, please.
So, we started what we’re calling the “Once a Month” strategy. Each month, we looked for a way to give, and very often, it involves just noticing what’s already in front of us. (Convenient!)
Here’s how the once-a-month giving strategy rolled out:
One reminder:
If you decide to take use this giving strategy, remember this is YOUR THING. Do what God places on YOUR HEART. Whatever works, big or little. Your family will be moved by however you decide to extend your hand. And hopefully, so will the people you give to.
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Cheryl is a mom of 3 boys, wife, speaker, high school teacher, and author of Empowered Moms & Kids. She has a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership and is passionate about learning and teaching. On www.empoweredmomsandkids.com you’ll find inspiration and encouragement for moms raising tweens and/or teens. Read more in the “about” section of this page.
