I volunteer for an organization that does a giving tree to help out our community and the wishes I’ve read so far have been so simple and beautiful that I can’t help but think how wanting the lists and lists of my family’s desires seem in comparison and it’s made me reflect a little more on this season and the way we live our lives. I’m okay with us dreaming big and wanting things, but I would love to reign it in a little and be more thoughtful in how we spend this holiday. I love the idea of picking out some wishes with my family and helping to make them come true and showing my little guys that giving can feel just as good or better than receiving. It is a busy time of year, and just hanging out together and shopping for someone else’s dreams might also be a great way to get to know each other better too. I know in Seattle the Gates Foundation and Pike Place Market Foundation both support giving trees (I included the links) and there is a family in Tukwila (a community very dear to my heart) that definitely needs a little help right now too. Parentmap also has a really great list of places that give back during the holidays that you can get involved with too.
And sometimes local businesses will help YOU while you help out and that can also feel quite nice:
I love that Splendid (a brand that makes my favorite travel shirt ) is teaming up with Milk and Bookies again this year, and if you bring in five new or gently-used books into the Bellevue store (or your local store if you’re not from Washington) by January 4th they will get them to readers who need books and give you 50% off one regular-priced item in their store.
If you bring a new or gently used kids’ coat to Via Tribunali in Seattle by December 12th, they’ll give it to the Atlantic Street Center and give you a complimentary Margarita Pizza.
Seattle store Moorea Seal gives back 7% of its profits to non-profits and Glassybabies and Material-Good vases are also great gifts that give to various organizations in need as well. Miir is also a really neat Seattle company that makes bikes and bottles that give other people clean water and bicycles and they have a really great kickstarter going on right now too to help them construct a Seattle Flagship store.
And if you really want to put it out there and make a big difference, you can head to Pure Barre in Green Lake, Queen Anne and Bellevue on Saturday December 6th and see if you’re a one in 11 million people chance for a sweet little boy who needs to find a bone marrow match or maybe someone else too. At Pure Barre they will be taking bone marrow swabs for the national bone marrow registry and if you can’t make it and still want to help out you can get a free swab kit sent to your home too.
I’m hoping I can find more things to add to this list over the next little while and if you know some local ways to help out, I’d love to hear. Here’s to putting a little love in our community this season and I’ll definitely update you if I figure out any shopping tips for shopping for a wish list with two 6-year old boys in tow. Happy Weekend:)
Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys. She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live. She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)
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