Marci Lutsky’s twins volunteer to stock the shelves at the Jewish Family Services’ foodbank.
Teaching Kids to Give Back
By Marci Lutsky
The holiday season is upon us and everywhere you look, we are encouraged to buy, buy, buy. I get it, the holidays are about gift giving but after awhile it gets to be too much. My mailbox is constantly filled with toy catalogues that my kids love to look through and circle what they want. If they watch a show on television, they tell me what toys they want to add to their wish list. While I understand that they are kids and kids love getting gifts, I also think that it’s important to teach them the value of giving back.
When my children were born my mother-in-law started a wonderful tradition with them. She opened them each a savings account and each year around the holidays they take the interest earned and donate that to an organization of their choice. When they were very young, their choices were directed by us but as they get older, they are very thoughtful about what population they want to help. Last year my daughter wanted to help butterflies and my son wanted to help turtles so my mother-in-law looked for organizations that helped both of these. She types up a letter to send along with the money explaining where the money is coming from, has the kids sign their name and has them address the envelope. Most of the time the kids receive an acknowledgement letter which is so exciting to them. Last year the organization that my daughter donated to even included a blurb about her charitable giving in their newsletter. She was thrilled! This year my son is going to make his donation to the Margate Terrapin Rescue Project and my daughter is going to donate to the Red Cross to help people affected by the California wildfires. It’s an excellent opportunity to teach kids about the world around them while at the same time encouraging them to think of others.
Following a can drive, Marci Lutsky’s twins deliver the collected food items to the Community Foodbank.
I try to teach my children about giving back all year round and not just at the holidays. Since we were not going to use our free turkey from Shoprite at Thanksgiving we donated it to the food bank. I co-manage the Linwood Farmers Market and at our winter market last year we set up a collection area for canned goods. The kids and I took the collection along with some other canned items we had in our house over to the food bank. They asked a lot of interesting questions about where the food goes.
Sometimes it can be challenging to find a place which allows children to volunteer. One of our favorite places for volunteering is Jewish Family Services in Margate. They receive a truckload of food every other month and all of that food needs to be unloaded from the truck, sorted and stocked on the shelves. They welcome young volunteers and my children love doing this. I subscribe to their newsletter so whenever I see an opportunity that will fit with my kids schedule, I sign up.
Each summer we participate in Our Children Making Change, a wonderful program that teaches kids about philanthropy. If you are looking for ways to get your kids involved in giving back, consider participating in this program over the summer or reach out to local organizations to find out what their needs are. It can be as simple as purchasing a toy to donate to Toys for Tots or volunteering at a senior center, having children play games with residents. We are all busy during the holiday season but it’s important to teach children about giving back.
Marci Lutsky is a local mom of six year-old twins and can be reached at veggingattheshore@gmail.com.
