3 Easy Ways to Give to Charity

It is important in our everyday life to notice and be grateful for all that we have. Being grateful is empowering and makes you focus on what you have instead of what you don’t have. When you are grateful for what you have, you come to realize that you always ALWAYS have something to give, something to share, or some way to help. I would like to share 3 EASY WAYS TO GIVE TO CHARITY, even when you think you have nothing to give…

1. Around the holidays you don’t have to go far to see bins set up for you to donate food. This is such a simple way to give and can be done in a way that costs you absolutely nothing. So many grocery stores offer buy one, get one free offers on all sorts of food items: pasta, canned foods, you name it. Go ahead and buy yourself that item that you need and put the one you get for free inside one of these bins. You can often find these bins at the supermarket you are shopping at right by the doors as you exit, which means you aren’t even going out of your way to give. 1 in 6 Americans face hunger, help feed them. Use the Food Bank Locatorto find a food bank near you.
2. All year long, you can donate clothing, furniture, or items you no longer need or want, but that are in perfectly good condition to a thrift store whose proceeds support non-profit organizations. At certain places like Community Thrift in San Francisco, you can even specify which organization you would like the proceeds to go to. I keep a bin in our laundry room that I put items to give away in and when it’s full, we donate the lot. Shoot I can clear out my clutter and help financially support my daughter’s preschool at the same time.
3. One of my absolute favorite ways to give isn’t even giving at all; it’s loaning. I help finance microloans to entrepreneurs that might not otherwise qualify for typical bank loans. This might sound like it is out of your reach, but it’s not. I make loans $25 dollars at a time via KIVA. Talk about empowering, I started off by lending $25 dollars to a woman in Samoa to buy supplies for her shaved ice business. When she paid me back, I lent the money out again and once a year I try to add another $25 dollars to the pot. I could choose to take my money back once it has been paid back, but once I have loaned it out, I do not miss it and it does so much more good being loaned out to those that are helping themselves. So far I have helped 7 people and I was super excited when KIVA started offering opportunities to loan to people in the United States. In the U.S. I’ve loaned money to a bodega owner and a cosmetologist.

As I wrote about #3, I started crying because not one single person has defaulted on the loans I’ve made. I find that amazing and proof that sometimes all someone needs to succeed is a little help from you or me.

Look around, find easy, creative, and small ways to give. If you have a lot, give a lot; if you have a little, give a little.

How do you give?

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. I am a Britax Latina Advisory Board Member and Blogger. As always, all opinions, ideas, and stories are my own. You can connect with BRITAX on Twitter and Facebook.