Happy December!  It is a frosty morning here south of Nashville, TN. And I’m warm and toasty in my cozy home office. I know there are many, right here in my county that aren’t as fortunate. That’s top of mind as I put together this post for Giving Tuesday. This year I’m going to continue to help where I live. To that end, I’m donating food, toys, clothes, books, diapers, anything I can to help local community outreach programs and non profits. If you’d like to help out in your community and need some ideas on where to get started, read on for Six ways you can give on Giving Tuesday.

This is my third year as an ambassador #GivingTuesday,  the global day of giving back to our community, or the world depending on which causes and organizations you choose to support. My family and I choose to support globally during most of the year, but during the holidays, we love to give our support locally. Read on for my three easy ways to give back starting today.

1. Donate Funds:

The first way we give is by putting a donation in nearly every Salvation Army bell ringers collection. Sometimes it’s just the change in our hands from our recent shopping trip. Other times we give a more meaningful amount, it really depends on where we are in our lives. Every little bit helps!  We smile and thank  the volunteers who are out in all sorts of weather promoting the Salvation's Armies promise to America to “Do the most good”. Our daughters, now in their teens,  have watched us do this so often over the years, that now they reach in their purse or pockets to see what they can give as well. This makes us very proud parents because we never asked them to give, they want too.  If you would like to learn more about volunteering this holiday season as a bell ringer, please visit www.ringbells.org where you can do a search to find local volunteer opportunities. 

2. Donate Food:

The second way we give is by supporting local food banks. The need is greatest this time of year, second only to summer when kids are out of school. The idea of not having enough food is a scary and growing situation on our country.  It’s hard to fathom that 42 million people in America face hunger each day- that’s 1 in every 8 Americans!  Sadly, school age children are the most severely affected by hunger. 

One of the easiest ways to help is to look for a collection bin at your local grocery store and put one of your BOGO’s in it all year. If you have the resources, perhaps you can adopt a family in need off of the giving tree in your community.  My local stores have them up all season. If your grocery store doesn’t, just look up your local food bank at Feeding America  and ask what they need.  

3. Donate Time:

Last but certainly not least, we want to help seniors in our community this year. I’m contacting a local assisted living community today to see how we might help brighten residents days. Simple acts like visiting for 30 minutes, smiling and saying hello to each resident we see, writing greeting cards for a hallway of residents, giving out free hand massages since I’m an Avon lady.

If you don’t have an assisted living center in your community, contact your local senior center or visit the National Center on Aging  which has a wealth of resources to help you plug in and help.

More Ways to help:

My three ways of helping may not be the best fit for you, so I invite you to visit the #GivingTuesday website where you can find countless ways to get involved today, next month or next year.

 Freebie:

The one thing you can give freely, multiple times a day is your smile. It costs you nothing, but to the receiver it may mean everything, especially in our social media savvy world! Look up from those phones when you are in public and Smile! Speaking of smiling- are you following me a.k.a. ismilefirst on Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest? I'd love for you to join me! 

Please share in comments: Which way do you and your family help give back to your community?