The Giving Game

Hi Scott,

My daughter would like to donate the contents of her money box to a charity. I really want to take her to one in person, rather than doing it online, so she can be a part of the process. But I am finding it increasingly challenging to find information on where we can do this ‒ none of them seem to want to interact in person. Any ideas?

Jill

Hi Jill,

I think there are more meaningful ways to teach giving than handing over cash.

Instead, my experience is that food is the perfect way to teach your kids about giving.

Reason being, every kid knows what it’s like to be hungry: you can’t concentrate, and you’re irritable until you eat.

So, you can explain that on a typical day roughly three kids in her class will arrive at school hungry or without having eaten breakfast, according to Foodbank. (This explains why approximately 1,750 schools across the country have Breakfast Clubs, to ensure kids are getting their most important meal of the day. They’re in poor areas. They’re in wealthy areas. They’re in my home town.)You can also explain that just because you can’t see their tummies rumbling doesn’t mean they’re not hungry.Not only is food a powerful metaphor for kids, even better, your kid has the chance to do something about it.

Last year charities across Australia had to turn away 65,000 hungry people each month because there wasn’t enough food to go around.

However, there’s no need to start feeding the masses bread and fish like a motivated messiah.

Instead, when you’re next walking around the supermarket, ask your kids, “What can we buy for hungry people?”

You can donate things like canned foods, spreads, coffee, flour, sugar and baby food. Have your kids bring along some money from their Give Jar so they can buy food with their own money, and then on the way home you can drop it off at the local Foodbank warehouse, or your local community charity that distributes food in your area (you can find their contact details from your local council).

Scott