Disclsoure: I was provided with the following information by The Everywhere Society and Macy’s.
The holidays are the perfect time to start a conversation with your children about giving back. The Everywhere Society and Macy’s Heart of Haiti partnered to create the “Growing Up Giving” – a digital guide that is the perfect starting point for parents, teachers and caregivers to learn how to raise a generation of charitable children.
To learn more, please take a look at the guide below:
My children have written their holiday wish lists, and among the toys, the electronics, and other items that pepper the list, there leaves space to talk to them about helping others during this most magical time of the year.
Throughout the year, not just during the holidays, I make it a point to give back to our community. I engage my sons by having them go through their clothes and old toys to see what we can give away to a child in need. Our dialogue contains the reasons why we are helping, and how important it is to give to others.
Recently, the UN Foundation released a study that discovered that “Talking to children about charity has a greater impact on their giving than role modeling alone.”
Imagine, if every parent talked to their children about being charitable and actually showed them how this benefits those in need, the ripple effect would be set into action and we would definitely see a better world as a result.
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Macy’s Heart of Haiti is a “trade-not-aid” program devoted to supporting economic development in Haiti in the wake of the 2010 earthquake. Heart of Haiti is an initiative that employs groups of artisans skilled in crafting home decor and jewelry and sells their wares online at Macys.com with a portion of the proceeds going directly to the artists. This money provides a reliable income for the artisans allowing them to feed their families and send their children to school. This holiday season, Heart of Haiti’s community of supporters, bloggers, parents and writers were asked about the best ways to engage kids in conversations surrounding philanthropy and the importance of giving back. Their responses have been compiled into a guide filled with suggestions, tips, real life examples and organizations you can share with your children. All illustrations are courtesy of burgeoning Haitian painter and survivor, Marie “Maye” Chantale Coriolan.
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Dianna Ranere