Holiday Charitable Giving: How to Make an Impact
For those of us lucky enough to afford Christmas presents and food for banquets, the holidays are a joyous time of year. We come together with friends and family to celebrate the year we’ve just experienced while also preparing for all the good times ahead of us in the new year. One of the best ways to spread Christmas cheer is by participating in holiday charitable giving.
For people who are not as privileged, the holiday season is not always full of copious amounts of joy, laughter, or cheer. Instead, the holidays are a reminder of how challenging it is to live an underprivileged life. Rather than picking out presents, many disadvantaged people are struggling to find somewhere to sleep at night. Now, in one of the most unprecedented years we’ve all faced, many more than in previous years need a helping hand.
The holidays are an excellent opportunity for those who are privileged to give back to their communities. Whether it’s through monetary donations or simply offering their time to help those that are not as fortunate, charitable holiday giving is a fantastic way to spread seasonal cheer and look out for people worldwide who could benefit from a Christmas miracle.
What Holidays are Like for the Underprivileged in Honduras
In Honduras, Christmas is one of the most important holidays, and it’s a tradition for family members to give Christmas presents to the younger generations. If money is tight and parents cannot afford many gifts, they prioritize shoes and new clothes, and it is customary for young girls to receive a Christmas dress and shoes to celebrate the occasion.
Attendance at a Christmas mass is a holiday tradition in Honduras, too. Faith is a prominent part of many Honduran people’s lives, and going to church is essential on this religious holiday as part of the celebrations of Jesus Christ’s birth.
In addition to wrapping presents and praying to God, another essential part of a Christmas experience in Honduras is a home-cooked meal. Christmas dinners often consist of tamales, arroz con pollo, green olives, red grapes, garbanzo beans, potatoes, apples, and peas.
Life in Honduras comes with many hardships during the holidays, one of which is homelessness. Across the country, the majority of Hondurans are living below the poverty line. For people like those who do not have a house to call home, the holidays are not as joyful. Instead, the holiday months can be cold and lonely.
This year will be made more difficult as the worldwide pandemic continues to run rampant across most parts of the world – including Honduras. Plus, two major hurricanes, Eta and Iota, recently devastated much of the country just one month ago, leaving thousands of people on the street just as the holiday season approached.
How Our Little Roses Makes Holidays Better for the OLR Girls
At Our Little Roses, one of the basic needs we strive to provide for young girls in Honduras is housing. We want to minimize the number of girls who make up the annual homelessness statistic that is always startlingly high. In addition to providing the girls with housing, we try our very best to create a living environment that promotes future success.
From enrichment activities to educational programs, Our Little Roses provides a growth-focused curriculum. In addition to the education they all receive, other activities are abundant. Our girls can choose to participate in organized sports teams, build their art through our woodworking shop, join dance classes through the Centro Cultural Infantil program, embark on spiritual retreats at the Pueblo Nuevo Training Center, and take part in the poet in residence fellowship program!
Are You Interested in Holiday Charitable Giving?
No matter what time of the year, we seek to improve the girls’ lives and well-being at OLR. But just like Our Little Roses, many organizations can’t better the lives of the underprivileged without the generous help of people like you. There are many ways that you can get involved during the holiday season, three of which we’ll explain below.
Become a Sponsor of a Nonprofit Organization
Nonprofit organizations often provide the general public with the option of sponsorships. Take Our Little Roses, for example. At OLR, sponsoring a girl is a unique opportunity that allows you to build relationships with each of the girls and staff at Our Little Roses.
Sponsorships not only provide hope to the OLR girls, but they also empower the sponsors and give them the ability to help a young girl in need of guidance. When you sponsor a girl at OLR, you change her life for the better and yours too!
Donate Money to Credible Charities
Holiday charitable giving in monetary donations is a phenomenal way to directly help the nonprofit organizations that you believe in the most. When you donate, your contribution helps us provide more resources and programming for our girls – every dollar makes an impact.
Participating in charitable holiday giving makes an enormous difference in the community you donate to and on a larger scale. When you uplift those around you, it creates a trickle effect that eventually reaches the community as a whole. By donating money and engaging in charitable holiday giving, you make a positive impact in the world, so make sure you take time to be proud of yourself in the process!
Bring Food to Local Food Drives
As beneficial as monetary donations can be, money is not the only source of assistance you can give to charities and nonprofit organizations. Time is one of the most significant resources we have, and if you have space in your schedule to spend volunteering, the organizations in your area could benefit greatly from your help.
During the pandemic this year, volunteering in-person is not exactly an option. However, food drives are still taking place, and a perfect example of offering up your time is by dropping off food at your local food donation centers. Just remember to wear your mask and practice social distancing when you bring canned goods to local food drives near you!
Be a Part of Our Little Roses During the Holidays
If you are interested in getting involved during the holidays and helping the girls at OLR experience a more joyful season this year, we have plenty of options for you to consider. You can donate to Our Little Roses, sign up to sponsor a girl at OLR, volunteer your time with the Our Little Roses Miami team, or even send well wishes for a beautiful holiday season through a letter or card!
Make a one-time donation or become one of our monthly donors to help Our Little Roses continue our programming for many more years to come. Sponsorships look a bit different this year due to the pandemic, but there are a variety of ways that you can make a difference in the girls’ lives, even if you’re at home! Contact us to learn more about how you can get involved and become a sponsor.