Ronald McDonald House Charities

Debbie — Wed, 04 Nov 2015 02:46:58 +0000

Are you looking for a great opportunity for you and your grandkids to provide service to others? Well you’ve come to the right place! Come learn about the Ronald McDonald House Charities.

There is a real easy way to get your family and grandkids involved in helping this organization. When children are fighting a serious and sometimes life-threatening illness, there are 353 Ronald McDonald Houses around the world where their family can stay while these children are in the hospital.

Often times the hospitals are a far distance from their homes and their stay can last from days until sometimes months.

Here is where you and I come in. While these families are living away from home, the Ronald McDonald houses likes to have a basket of cards on the table. If a family is indeed staying for a few months, more than likely there is going to be a birthday of a family member that they are going to miss. Or maybe they need to send a thank you card to someone who is caring for their other family members at home.

These baskets of cards come in handy because families can just grab a card, fill it out and it on it’s way. No having to remember to stop by a store and pick up a card. It may seem like a small thing, but it’s huge to the families staying at the house that they don’t have to miss out on acknowledging the occasions that are going on with their family and friends.

All we need to do is decorate the outside of the cards leaving the inside blank and then send the cards along with the envelope to your local chapter. You can find your local chapter here: https://www.rmhc.org/home In the right hand corner, click on “Chapter Search” and fill in your information.

I love this project because my grandkids can feel like they are helping other kids and their families.

I remember reading once that sometimes we have the mistaken notion that to build confidence in our kids we should do it by complimenting them. The article went on to say that a better way to instill self-worth in our kids is to have them serve others. The feeling that our children and grandchildren receive when they do something for someone else is a powerful force. They are blessed with a feeling that they can’t get any other way.

This project is great for all ages of kids and even adults. Make it a family affair to serve!

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Fun Educational Christmas Activities For Children

Tracy — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 00:17:20 +0000

School will be out soon and if you are like me, you are running around trying to finish last minute shopping, baking, cleaning and hopefully wrapping presents ahead of time. (ha ha)

What do you do with your darling children who are excited for Santa to come? How do you keep them from being bored and keep them AWAY from TV and video games? Give them fun activities that will help them use their brain!

Today I have listed some sites with online educational activities! Hopefully this will keep your little darlings busy and buy you some time to finish your last minute Christmas to-do list.

One of my favorite things about this season is the opportunity to teach my children about serving those who are less fortunate than ourselves. Let me share an experience our family had about 8 years ago.

While reading the newspaper I found an article about an older couple that had spent time volunteering at a San Jose day camp for Russian orphans. While serving there they ran across 5 Russian siblings ages 9-15 who were on the verge of being separated forever. This wonderful couple in their “golden years” did the unthinkable and adopted all 5 children! Their story brought tears to my eyes. The Anacker’s were of meager income, but did not let that stop them. I showed my husband the article and we decided we wanted to help with their first Christmas as a family in America.

I contacted Marilyn Anacker, told her I was the mother of 4 young children and we wanted to help. I asked if we could drop of Christmas presents for their family and what their needs were. Marilyn said they needed clothes for all of the children, and that they had no toys or sports items. I quickly contacted our church members asking for clothing donations in the correct sizes. The response was immediate and generous. We had plenty of clothing in each size within a few days. Then came the best part, reading the story to our kids and asking them if they wanted to help. Their response was to get up, run to their rooms and start gathering items they wanted to give to this family. I was pleased to watch as they chose some of their best or favorite toys to give away.

I contacted Marilyn again to arrange a time to drop off the clothing and toys. This amazing woman said we couldn’t “drop” of the items unless we all came in to meet her husband, older son and the children. Our kids watched eagerly as Marina, Leana, Sergei, Irina and Nikolai opened their gifts. To this day, seeing my children experience the true joy of giving is my favorite Christmas memory. Helping the Anacker’s helped my children understand the true meaning of Christmas, giving of ourselves to others.

So in the spirit of Christmas I have a 2nd round up for you. Some fun ideas of ways you can give service to others!

Round up #1

Fun Educational Christmas Activities For Children

Activity Village

Claus Kids Tons of great activities at this site!

The Activity Mom Activity Advent Countdown

Lil’ Luna

Making Memories

Creative Momma

My Delicious Ambiguity

ISL Collective

Creative With Kids