Remember the movie Pay it Forward? The movie’s
plot centered around an elementary school teacher’s social studies assignment where
students were asked to think of something
to change the world. One of the students conjures the notion of paying a
favor not back, but forward – repaying good deeds not with payback, but with new
good deeds done to three new people.
We thought it might be a good
idea to put spins aside for a moment and talk about Pay it Forward ideas you can
share with three new people for the holiday.
- Host a pot luck Thanksgiving dinner and in addition to family members, invite people who may not have somewhere to go or someone to share Thanksgiving – a widow or widower, a college student, a co worker, a neighbor, a veteran or active duty military service man/woman on leave.
- Visit a nursing home. Take some fall decorations to decorate a home’s bulletin board or to hand out to residents, read to residents and most importantly, listen to their conversations about memories and their words of wisdom!
- Visit a homeless shelter. Help serve a meal. Donate food and other supplies – paper plates/cups, plastic utensils, decorations.
- Work in a soup kitchen. Many community churches and non-profit organizations will run soup kitchens and offer hot meals especially over the holidays.
- Take photos during a homeless shelter, soup kitchen, community organization or church Thanksgiving event and donate the photos to the event sponsoring organization for them to display throughout the year.
- Prepare and donate Thanksgiving baskets or shoeboxes with canned goods, toiletries and the like to a family in need.
- Donate to food drives.
- Donate to coat drives.
- Donate to book drives.
- Donate to shoe drives.
- Donate to old eyeglasses drives.
- Do some errands for an elderly or a disabled neighbor – walk a dog, pick up a prescription, write a letter.
- Help a Hurricane Sandy victim clean up, paint or repair their home.
- Collect supplies for Hurricane Sandy victims – flashlights, batteries, clothing, toiletries, canned food.
- Donate refreshments for Hurricane Sandy relief workers – hot cocoa, cookies, sandwiches, bottled water.
Other Pay
it Forward Thanksgiving ideas are listed at the following links
Soup kitchens provide a hot meal for people who need it. http://www.ehow.com/how_10121_volunteer-soup-kitchen.html
Here are
some ideas on how you can spend this Thanksgiving helping those in need.http://voices.yahoo.com/charitable-ideas-thanksgiving-volunteering-and-1957797.html
Here are
five simple ideas to reap the biggest volunteer harvest at this time of year: Thanksgiving is a family-centered holiday. Develop
an ...http://www.energizeinc.com/press/01nov.html
Want to
spread Thanksgiving cheer by volunteering this year? ... Thanksgiving: Ideas For Creative Placemats; Design Your
Own Thanksgiving Placemats! http://www.essortment.com/volunteer-opportunities-thanksgiving-65098.html
Great ideas!
There are so many ...http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/25/thanksgiving-volunteer-op_n_1031618.html
Thanksgiving is about more than being thankful for what
you have in your life. ... These places often run on volunteerprograms,
... very good ideas.http://voices.yahoo.com/do-more-volunteer-yourself-thanksgiving-holiday-629006.html
Best
Answer: You could do what my children have been doing at Christmas for many
years. They actively seek out one or two people who are far from family or ...http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20121028141323AAfbIb9
Looking
to volunteer on Thanksgiving, but not
sure what your options are? ... Gift Ideas for Your Girlfriend/Boyfriend; Time
Management 101; How to Manage College Stress; http://collegelife.about.com/od/cocurricularlife/a/Where-To-Volunteer-For-Thanksgiving.htm
PS
November 24th is Shop Small Business Saturday. Ways to Pay it Forward in support of local businesses in your community will appear in the spin detectives’ next post.
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