Being involved with charities has always been a big deal to the hubby and me. We try to either adopt a family every year for Christmas or help out with an organization like Brown Santa. {I am partial to Brown Santa because my dad works for Travis County Sheriff’s Dept} Being a Junior League of Austin member gives me the ability to get involved with numerous charities around town and last year my favorite was Partnerships for Children. They work with Family & Child Protective Services and provide essentials to caseworkers for children that are removed from their homes, such as toothbrushes and teddy bears. During the holidays they make sure each child in the system gets a few things on their Christmas list that might not otherwise get any gifts at all.
This is the charity we chose to work with this year for the holidays. Our family adopted 20 children and filled their wish lists for them. We always get our kiddos involved as well, they love getting to help shop for these kids. Our oldest 2 kids understand the concept of what and why we are doing what we do, the youngest just loves putting toys in the shopping cart. 😉 Our family is extremely blessed and giving back is so important to us. It is also important for us to teach our children about giving back as well as always recognizing and being grateful for how lucky we truly are. We want them to realize that we are not just lucky because my husband does an amazing job providing for our family, but for so many bigger reasons beyond that.
There are many charities around town that need help year round, but there is an extra need during the holidays. A few to check out are Brown Santa, Blue Santa, Partnerships for Children, Coats for Kids, the Austin Children’s Shelter {another one that my husband and I are passionate about donating to}. Local churches are a great resource if you want to adopt a specific family….sometimes it is handled anonymously to protect the family and other times you can have direct contact and interaction with the family, which speaking from experience is something that will stay with you a lifetime, I highly recommend it.
