Giving Back During the Holidays

Each year we try do a little something to give back to the community. Usually we pick out a few toys for a toy drive, donate some of our toys to Goodwill, give coats to charity or help a local family who needs some assistance. We've even filled shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child. That was an awesome experience! Last year we missed out on our tradition. It was a bit hectic with being in the new house, in a new city, in a new climate zone. You get the idea.

This year we're getting back on track!

We are baking cookies this weekend for our Cub Scouts to decorate Monday night. We'll also be making mini reindeer candy cane ornaments. Tutorial and pictures to come. We will only have an hour to get it all done so the simpler, the better! When everything is dry and the icing is set, the holiday goodies will be hand delivered to our local senior citizens center!

My only problem is figuring out what kind of cookie to make. I want a fabulously delicious cookie, something different than the standard sugar or gingerbread cookies I'm sure everyone else will bring. But I want one that can be easily and quickly decorated since the boys will have dozens of cookies to decorate. Is that too much to ask?

If you've got a favorite cookie for decorating, I'm all ears!

Looking for ideas on how your can give back this year? Here's a few you might be interested in.

You can donate money or pack a shoe box for Operation Christmas child. This is a children's charity focused on many war torn regions or communities across the globe who have suffered a natural disaster (like New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina). Find out more here.

General Mills has partnered with Care.org to match donations up to $500 per donor to help villages in Malawi. Funds go toward creating clean drinking water, mosquito nets to reduce Malaria outbreaks, as well as farming and other business initiatives to help these villages become self sufficient. You can find out about Join My Village here.

Robeez, part of the Stride Rite brand, is also donating a pair of soft sole shoes to K.I.D.S. (Kids In Distressed Situations) with every soft sole shoe purchase through December 23rd. Learn more about their program here. I would so buy these booties if my guy were still a wee little one!

This post was written as part of a TwitterMoms discussion about how we are giving back during the holiday season.