The Kindness of Children

Not long ago I saw a really touching story about the kindness of children. CBS News has been doing a series about "children of the recession", how the economy is affecting children.

This particular segment had a reporter going around seeing what ideas children had to help with the recession. During the segment it came up that several of the children had money they had been saving and they'd given it to their parents to purchase groceries or other needed items for the family.

What a testimony to the spirit and consideration of these children. Heartwarming and heartbreaking all at the same time.

If you'd like to see the news segment, check it out at the CBS site.

Budget philanthropy idea for the day: Do you have anything extra in your pantry or cabinets? Consider filling up a grocery sack with a few items and taking it in to the food bank or a halfway house or shelter.

Frugal Philanthropy Gifts

There are days I wish I were loaded with dough just so I can give it away or buy lots of cool stuff for people -- things they need or just plain old luxuries they don't give themselves permission to buy.

But on the other hand, after watching The Story of Stuff I feel really weird about buying STUFF that may or may not be useful or that might just end up in a landfill one day.

So, today's post is a triple whammy... it's a craft project, it's a "green" recycling project AND if you give it to someone when you're done with it it can also be a good deed!

Go check out this great homemade chalkboard. All you need is an old picture frame, some chalkboard paint and some spray paint. And if you don't want to use the traditional color of chalkboard paint, you can see a recipe for custom colored paint from Martha Stewart's web site.

Let's get out and exercise our generosity muscles!

The Lemon Lady

Hanna Rion said, "The greatest gift of the garden is the restoration of the five senses."

I think The Lemon Lady would disagree. Probably she would say the greatest gift of the garden is that it enables you to give generously to others.

Anna's basic philosophy is simple. First, it's the strong belief that no one should go hungry (and we can all agree to that) and second, why not plant an extra row in your garden for hungry people and then take all that produce to a local food bank?

I'm not sure how it is in larger areas, but in my rural area the food banks don't keep fresh foods -- just boxed, bottled, jarred and canned. Summer is a great time when the bounty of our gardens are overflowing -- this is a time when it's easy to be generous.

Are you keeping a garden this year? Why not start by planting a row for the hungry. Then go check out Anna's blog and see how far you can take it. Can you top her 4,500 pounds of harvested produce for the hungry? Can you try? Because just trying means you're doing more than if you did nothing.

What about starting a community garden in your town or neighborhood? What are the benefits there? Share the labor, share the love, share the bounty.

At our place we're doing "double duty". I wanted my kids to understand about how vegetables grow, where they come from, and how to take care of them. Combined with this we also learn how to save money by growing our own food, and how to share our "wealth" with others by giving extra produce to my mom and her friends who are on fixed incomes.

We're not saving the world, but we ARE making a difference. Do you have any grand plans for this fertile spring and summer?