Over the years we’ve discussed a few ways the LMP squad loves to give back. Before Covid, we used to make meals at local homeless shelters every month and we’ve been throwing the holiday party at the Mt. Sinai Kravis Children’s hospital for the past few years (be sure to check out last year’s party here).

But now with the pandemic, a lot of these programs aren’t getting the support they need anymore. Which got me thinking - what charities can we support, but from home?

An organization that I’ve donated to a few times in the past is Toys For Tots. I used to go with my mom every year to a local department store and pick up a gift, wrap it up really nicely, and drop it off at my local church with a tag on it that said what age group it was for. Now they’ve set up a system online where you can select a toy from their curated list and that toy will go to a child in need. They have toys starting at $10 and you can even filter the age ranges if you’d like to pick a toy for a specific one!

My dad served in the army for 21 years, so to my family veterans and military organizations are very important to us. We frequently donate to The Vietnam Veterans of America, this is one of the simplest ways to give back! Go through your drawers or that closet full of junk in your basement. You can schedule a pick up online and the VVA comes right to your door to pick it up. Spend no extra money this holiday season, just clean out your closet! They will take any clothing or household items, it just needs to be in a box or bag for pick up!

If cleaning out your closet isn’t an option, check out the Adopt-A-Family program through Solider’s Angels. Through their program, you will be given a family that you can assist by giving gifts to military children and grocery store gift cards so they can purchase their holiday meals. And if you can’t afford to adopt an entire family, any donation is appreciated through their Go Fund Me page.

My mom’s personal favorite organization to give back to is St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. It’s no secret why, they are a phenomenal organization. I can’t imagine anything worse than a sick child in the hospital during the holidays. What I love about their donation page is that there are so many ways to give back to the hospital. You can donate to the memorial of a loved one, send holiday cards to patients, and of course make a donation.

With everything going on, one thing people shouldn’t have to worry about is where their next meal is coming from! So another organization I’ll be donating to this holiday season is Feeding America. They are estimating that this year about 50 million people will experience food insecurity, 20 million of that being kids. I found their website to be such a helpful resource in learning more about this issue. They really break down the demographics of the communities they serve from rural hunger all the way to African American and Latino hunger across the country.

Something I think people often take for granted is books! In my home we have SO many book fanatics so we have tons of bookshelves full of them and they’re a common gift under our Christmas tree each year. So before the holidays I often look through to see if there are any that I haven’t looked at in a while or that are not of use to me anymore. Once you’ve done a little decluttering, you can drop your donation at any drop box location of Better World Books. These books are sold online to help raise funds for awesome non-profit literacy organizations changing the world through teaching kids, supporting families, building schools and filling libraries. You can even purchase books on their site! They give a book for every book sold.

On Instagram I started following a foster mama of 3, Amy from Our Gathered Cottage, at first just because she’s a great thrifter (and if you know me, you know I love a good deal) and then I started to learn more about her little foster family and all about the struggles these families & kids go through! Through Amy, I was introduced to even more accounts like hers and found resources to give back to, to help make these kids and families lives a little easier. Together We Rise is an organization that uses donations to make care bags (duffle bags to be exact) full of kid essentials, free photographers to families adopting through foster care, birthday boxes, reunification events (for kids who are separated from their siblings in the system), and so much more. This is definitely one of my favorite charities that I’ve learned about this year.

No matter what you decide to do this holiday season, give back anyway you can - $1, $2, anything helps. And if you can’t afford to give then also look into Amazon Smile program, which lets you make donations at no extra cost to whatever organization you choose every time you make a purchase through Amazon.

Happy Holidays!