'Tis the season to give to the less fortunate! I was just wondering how many people donated and to which charity, or if you participated in any events for charity?

Lazlo and I donate to Toys for Tots every holiday season, which is basically a charity all over America where toys are taken locally, set up, and low income families are invited to come in and choose a certain amount of toys depending on how many children they have and what their ages are. My best friend is a single mother who didn't have much money left over for Xmas gifts for her son, so she was accepted for a Toys for Tots donation and her and I went to their set up and picked out several toys for him. It was touching how many things were donated and how many people were there to support and help out. There was a full room just packed full of toys for different genders and age groups, as well as a bag full of household cleaning products and general necessities for the parents. It's a great cause and I've seen first hand how it can really make a holiday for some families.

The nice thing about Toys for Tots is that it's convenient to donate to; There are bins in the entry way of Walmart, as well as some other big chains. You're not allowed to donate used toys, but there's no limit to how much you can spend, meaning you can buy a pack of crayons and a color book for a total of $2 and donate it. Every single thing counts when you're not expecting anything at all. Lazlo and I have spent around $80 this year, donating lots of color books, Play-Do, learning toys, Legos, etc. Having a daughter and loving her as much as I do, I know as a parent how much it would hurt to not be able to give her something special for the holidays or to do as much for her as I would like.

Another charity I participate in is Locks of Love. Locks of Love makes wigs for children who lose their hair due to medical procedures and can't afford to buy a hair piece (which are very spendy). I don't know why anyone wouldn't donate, because when your hair gets long and you cut it off, it's just swept up and thrown away. Knowing I can grow my hair out, cut it off, and for the price of a few stamps, send it to a young person who's got enough problems in their lives without feeling self conscious about their hair loss.

I know that a lot of women fear cutting off enough hair for Locks of Love because it's 10 inches, which seems like a lot and it's hard to make that kind of commitment. But hair grows back for healthy people, and won't for these kids with cancer or other ailments that require medical research that can stop hair growth. So, for the girls with long pretty hair that would like to donate and do something nice for another but are intimidated by chopping 10 inches of hair off:



That's 12 inches of my hair. It was down to my butt, so naturally that's kinda long. After having all that cut off...



It's still decently long! I don't blame anyone for wanting to wait until their hair is a decent length before doing it (personally, I'd get uncomfortable with hair that goes over my ears, haha, that's a bit too short for my tastes), but it's definitely not a big deal, haha. I've had friends wuss out at the last minute and never get back around to doing it, or forgetting or what have you, and it's kinda silly. ; ]

Additionally, I participated in a Relay for Life once, but I don't remember much about it.

So, just wanted to get the word out and to ask what you guys are involved in, if anything? Feel free to explain the charity/event so other people can participate if they want!

I like to play my cello at events with my school's orchestra, and I also like to work with my mom and get food and toys to the local food pantry.

Aww I really love that you posted this!  I think it's awesome that you posted photos to show young women that it's not that big of a deal!

I've never donated to locks of love, to be honest, and I'm not even sure how I would (as in how to go about that.  I'm sure the information is readily available on the net though).  Also, I swear my hair grows CRAZILY slow. Maybe I just loose too much of it in the shower or something because I haven't had a hair cut in about 6 or 7 years, possibly 8.  My hair is only half way down my back after all that time, and I only cut it to shoulder level last time.  My hair is super curly and wavy, so it catches in my hairbrush and .... well every time I take a shower I'm surprised I haven't grown bald!  LOL

I used to volunteer for Habitat for Humanity though, which I absolutely loved.  I also worked with disabled kids and visited nursing homes.  I haven't done any of that for a few years now because I feel like I'm always bogged down in papers to grade.  

Actually, I do. I  donate to AARP, USO, and Make a Wish Foundation. I probably donate about fifty  to each every year.

I take part in toys for tots every year around Christmas, this charity gives toys to the less fortunate for Christmas. Its a great experience.

Oldschool41 : Donating blood counts! It's an awesome thing to do that's not required but there's really no reason not to if you're a healthy person. I really should, I have O negative so there's a lot of people that would be able to make use of my blood. I just never think of it, and whenever I see a Red Cross van out and taking blood, I'm always in the middle of something. =(

If I hear about an event where they're doing it, I should make sure to find time.

Singelli : I don't know if it bothers you or not, but there's actually supposed to be all natural supplements that can help with hair growth? It might be a fun experiment if you ever decided on a whim that you might like to try to grow your hair out more. Also for me, massaging the roots of my hair helps it grow a lot. My hair is really thick and wavy so I definitely feel you for having it ripped out all the time, haha. But yeah, if you just massage your scalp like in the shower or whatever when your hair isn't so likely to get tangled, and it helps it grow! I think you actually pull your hair follicle closer to the surface a bit and it stimulates new hair growth? I don't know.

Also, I didn't think of it later, but I almost always throw in a dollar on my purchase when they're doing things for St. Joseph's hospital or whatever, Make a Wish Foundation, Children's Miracle Network, etc. Not very big contributions unfortunately but we all do what we can.

Lazlo and I also donated and helped out at the local human society back in my hometown. We'd just go there and socialize with the animals, and bring in a bunch of pet related coupons/gift cards and just whatever money we had in our pockets at the time to donate. We got to know a lot of the animals, it was always a bittersweet feeling when we'd come in to see them and they had been adopted.

KG :  Massaging your hair follicles really helps it grow?  That's so weird!

I never was a girly girl, so I don't know if I'm just taking poor care of my hair or what.  LOL  I mean, it's not thinning out or anything.  I just can't believe I lose so much of it every time I shower.  I mean, maybe my hair does grow fast, but it's just having to keep up with all that gets pulled out.  LOL  If you look in my vizzed photo album, you'll see that I have plenty of hair.  I'm kind of afraid of what hair growth supplements would do. LOL

You speaking about the humane society makes me a little sad though. My husband and I were recently put in the position of having to put two of our cats up for adoption.  The lady said they were very full, but we really had no choice.  I hope someone is kind enough to help them get a new home before it's too late.  I've had those cats for 4 years and I loved them dearly.

KG : YAY!! I found someone else with O negative blood. lol.

Anyways I would say that you should try it out, doesn't take that long to donate (just the background paperwork is). You'll get some free drinks (water, apple juice) and food (Oreos, Cheezets, Cookies...pretty much all junk food) once your done (also during). You actually don't need to find a Red Cross van to do donations, as there are some Red Cross centers around that you can walk into to donate (I do that pretty much...thou I think you need an appointment).  I pretty much do "volunteer work" trying to get people to donate blood (when I say volunteer work, I mean that loosely). I get shut down mostly, but I won't give up!!

Sorry for the long comment, I just love donating.

(Donated 2 pints of blood already.)

Also I remember that I did some sort of event that involved shaving my head. I know it was something involving support for children with cancer. But this event was a local charity event. I forget the name of the charity but I know that I was recruited by a high school friend who did it before. I'll have to look up the name.

I've done occasional art for local events while I had been in school, beyond that I did occasional handy man work for people I knew couldn't afford a big name company come and do it. I also donate from time to time to various charities, though among my favorite are to local animal shelters, and 'Toys for Tots' charities.

And for three years donated blood plasma twice a week until my vein had scarred up so much I had to stop, but was important, especially for cancer victims as they need blood plasma alot through treatment and recovery.

It feels kinda nice to help people

I used to donate to "Locks of Love" a lot, but unfortunately, my hair is starting to thin, making me a little vain and not wanting to cut my hair anymore. I have donated four times though (cause yes, I have long hair in general, haha), and felt good that I could be of help in a pretty simple way.

Other donations, the most I have done is maybe give some canned vegetables we got good deals on to canned food drives. I honestly have not been good enough financially to give anything substantial to the community though. I did try to volunteer via a volunteer website for my state back when I was unemployed, but to the various places I felt I could do some good, they never got back to me. Felt rather dejected and just stopped trying. Now that I have a job, I do not have time for it really.

Funny thing, a friend of mine was trying to volunteer at a soup kitchen this time of the year, and he actually was told by various places to not bother as they had plenty of help already. While I think it is cool so many are helping and all, just surprised they turned down the help.

One more thing about charities in general... it sometimes is hard to tell what people or charities are real or people just taking advantage. When Hurricane Sandy hit, people at my local food banks had various people who were not affected by the storm looting the place. Someone my sister knew was working at a place and overheard a woman this was a nice thing for a free dinner. I also was looking on Craig's List in volunteer section and saw many sob stories... but part of me can't help but wonder who may be lying or not...

I spend my weekends volunteering at the Animal Pounds, working at Food Pantry's, I usually volunteer at The Ronald McDonald House. Last year I donated $56,436 to a leukemia foundation because recently my beloved nephew died of it. He was only six years old. So ever since then I have been helping out and donating the to the research of a way to get rid of Leukemia.

Well my family usually donated cash to unicef and salvation army, don' know if they still do but as for me, I tend to donate a bit to unicef also and blood, if it counts...

Yes, if my club is doing any type of charity work I participate.  We recently made care packages for the elderly. 

My Dad and I don't really participate in any Charity events. Its not like we don't like the cause or anything, we're just not interested half the time. Back when we had a Home Phone, we'd occasionally donate to the Breast Cancer fund since my Mom died of it, but now we don't donate at all.

This year I didn't really do that much charity work.. Not compared to previous years anyways... It's always nice to help people who are less fortunate then you, Especially when you consider the fact that I know of a few people who complain about not getting some thing like an ipad in the colour they wanted..

The latest thing I did that involved charity was with the dodgeball team I play for.. Where we basically donated money for every catch we made in the tournament... We raised over £100... so roughly about $165...  Which may not sound a lot but every little helps...  We are planning to do future charity events as a team as well.. Like the tam are planning to run over 100 miles non stop on a "minotaur marathon" where they go to places which respond to a letter in the word minotaur...

 It may not be as amazing as KG's charity work.. But it's something..