This year we are doing our best to make sure every child in the grand valley has a happy Christmas experience. We've been saving toys all year to donate to Toys for Tots and last week we helped them kick off the season of giving by donating nearly $4000 worth of toys. Our challenge now is to our customers. We have a big donation box in the front of our store and this year the need is almost double that of last year. Please come down and fill up our box (over & over). This is the season of giving. A great way to help your children experience giving, would be to bring them down to the toy store and have them pick out a toy they like to give to another child "just like them". Let them learn about giving and put the toy in the box. Older children might be encouraged to "earn" the toy to be given, by doing chores. Generosity, I think, is more of a "learned" behavior. By starting them young and setting a good example, you can raise the next generation of generous people. When my son David was little, I'd take him along to deliver meals-on-wheels. The recipients were always glad to see him; he was the highlight of their day. One year, we were in Texas and he helped my sister deliver food to homeless people and when we got back home there was a package for David in the mail. One of the homeless guys had given my sister a big plastic car to give to David as a thank you. It probably came out of a dumpster or the Goodwill, but it meant a lot to Dave and I think we still have it somewhere as a reminder that both the giver and the receiver profit from the experience. Warm fuzzys all around!
