Featured Story
Family-Friendly Service Opportunities for the Holiday Season
Kate Parker-Burgard, Center for Leadership Director, shares ways that your family can find joy and give back to the community this holiday season and beyond.
As we all move through this holiday season longing for many of our beloved traditions, consider engaging in new activities as a family. While it may be easy to bemoan the customs we’re missing, scientific research demonstrates that helping others is one of the healthiest, most uplifting things we can do, including during the pandemic. While many of the in-person opportunities that we may have done in the past are not available for safety reasons, there are still ways to engage with our communities meaningfully. You can find a list of suggested activities in our Service Opportunities from Home--COVID Resource Guide, and below are some holiday-specific and seasonal activities shared from our local partners:
Gift-giving
A number of organizations have mentioned how they have more families than ever needing assistance with the holidays. If your family would enjoy picking out gifts for others, here are a few ideas (please consider doing this soon, as organizations need time to deliver gifts to the recipients):
Back
As we all move through this holiday season longing for many of our beloved traditions, consider engaging in new activities as a family. While it may be easy to bemoan the customs we’re missing, scientific research demonstrates that helping others is one of the healthiest, most uplifting things we can do, including during the pandemic. While many of the in-person opportunities that we may have done in the past are not available for safety reasons, there are still ways to engage with our communities meaningfully. You can find a list of suggested activities in our Service Opportunities from Home--COVID Resource Guide, and below are some holiday-specific and seasonal activities shared from our local partners:
Gift-giving
A number of organizations have mentioned how they have more families than ever needing assistance with the holidays. If your family would enjoy picking out gifts for others, here are a few ideas (please consider doing this soon, as organizations need time to deliver gifts to the recipients):
- Building One Community focuses on supporting immigrant families. They have posted this wishlist to shop from.
- Inspirica focuses on supporting people who are homeless. You can shop from their wishlist.
- Bridgeport Rescue Mission helps the hungry, homeless, and addicted. They have requested Bedtime Bags as holiday gifts for the children in their network.
- Support a family moving from homeless to a home by purchasing a Housewarming Kit at the Open Door Shelter in Norwalk.
- If you shop for holiday gifts through Amazon, consider using Amazon Smile, which will donate 0.5% of your eligible purchases to the charitable organization of your choice. Filling in the Blanks, an organization that supports people who are food insecure, is one of our many partner organizations that are registered with Amazon Smile. Go to smile.amazon.com to learn more. Filling in the Blanks also recommends using Giving Assistant as a way to shop while donating to organizations such as theirs.
- Be a Holiday Helper at the Open Door Shelter. Families are invited to plant mini-evergreen trees in front of the shelter or donate homemade holiday decorations. Please contact Erin McDonough to learn more.
- Many people are weary of this pandemic, and nonprofits have been hit particularly hard. Between increased demand for services and restrictions on volunteers (which many nonprofits rely on), they have been stretched. Make holiday cards to thank the staff at local nonprofits. More information here.
- The New Canaan Nature Center invites students and families to volunteer with their annual syrup harvest. This opportunity won’t start until mid-January, but you can sign up now. They ask that volunteers donate 1-2 hours at least twice a week (Sunday-Saturday). Please contact Michelle Hips if you’re interested in volunteering:
- If your family wants to provide a meal for our friends at Inspirica, it has to be ordered through a restaurant for safety reasons. Please click here to learn more about this opportunity and select a day for meal delivery.
- Bridgeport Rescue Mission invites anyone 16 and older to help pack and distribute food in their pantry (all safety protocols must be followed). There are shifts on every weekday except Wednesdays—a good activity to do over the break. To find out more about the specific time slots, please click on this link.
- Be a personal shopper at the Open Door Shelter in Norwalk on Monday and Wednesday mornings—another activity for school break—where you can help shoppers select items from their Clothing Closet. Contact Erin McDonough to learn more.
- Work with a local restaurant to sponsor a meal for the Open Door Shelter in Norwalk. This helps the short-staffed shelter and the local restaurants who are experiencing lower than usual business due to COVID-19 restrictions. Contact Erin McDonough to learn more.
St. Luke’s School is a secular (non-religious), private school in New Canaan, CT for grades 5 through 12 serving over 40 towns in Connecticut and New York. Our exceptional academics and diverse co-educational community foster students’ intellectual and ethical development and prepare them for top colleges. St. Luke’s Leading with Humanity curriculum builds the commitment to serve and the confidence to lead.
