Charity

Charity is both an attitude and an action. And in reality, the attitude alone is not enough. We can have the best intentions to help others, but those intentions are empty unless we follow through in some way.
Children learn empathy and a sense of community through lessons in charity. Parents can instill this altruism in their families in a number of ways:
• Begin by discussing the concept of charity toward others, and start within the family unit. How can we each be “generous and helpful” to one another every day? Make a poster and put it in a visible location, Refer to it often, especially when sibling rivalry takes over.
• If your children receive an allowance, ask that they put a portion in a “Service Jar.” Allow them to decide the recipients of the money and distribute it periodically. Include them in taking the fund to the charity so they can see the results of their generosity.
• Organize a “Closet Clothing Drive” every few months—in their own closets! Children can sort through clothes and toys that are too small or no longer wanted, and donate them, even if it is to a younger sibling. Parents should do the same.
• Discuss the needs in your neighborhood. Are there elderly or disabled residents on your street who could use a helping hand? Children can pull garbage cans out on pick-up day, mow and rake or walk pets, for example. These tasks are perfect for instilling a helpful attitude followed by action. The immediate feedback children get from the recipients of their charity will encourage them to continue.
• Finally, your family can get involved in a community service project at least once a year. Food baskets, holiday gift trees, and baked treats are part of many local charities’ needs on a seasonal basis.
No matter what your family’s spiritual framework, charity is a traditional virtue and an integral part of many religious traditions. Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and many other faiths revolve around charitable works. Incorporate some of these suggestions into your family routine, and the results will help not only others, but your children as well.


Discuss the following with your children:
Is it necessary to identify yourself to those receiving your charity? Why or why not?
Book that build charity:

For children:

Those Shoes by Maribeth Boelts
Abuelita Full of Life by A. Costalese
See You Tomorrow, Charles by M.
Cohen
Gift by H. Coutant

For teens:

Life Is Not Fair by G. Barger
Willie Bea & the Time Martians by
V. Hamilton
Rabbi’s Girls by J. Hurwitz
Animal Family by R. Jarrell

See http://charactercounts.org/resources/booklist_search.php for more choices.


Further Reading on teaching children charity:

Character Matters by Thomas Lickona, p. 19-20.

Raising Good Children by Thomas Lickona, p. 407.

Helping Your Children Become a Responsible Citizen, by US Department of Education, www.ed.gov/pubs/edpubs.html, p. 1- 2.
(This is a free publication that can be ordered at the above named website.)

What Teens Need to Succeed, by Peter L. Benson, Judy Galbraith, Pamela Espeland, see references to Volunteerism.

Books of Responsibility by Young People’s Press, http://youngpeoplespress.com/home.php?cat=315

Lessons in Character by Young People’s Press http://youngpeoplespress.com/home.php?cat=299

Random Acts of Kindness Foundation, http://www.actsofkindness.org/


Quotes to live by:

“Charity sees the need, not the cause.”
German Proverb

“In charity, there is no excess.”
Sir Francis Bacon

“Be charitable before wealth makes thee covetous.”
Sir Thomas Browne

“Charity begins at home.”
Terence

“The charity that hastens to proclaim its good deeds, ceases to be charity, and is only pride and ostentation.”
William Hutton

“The life of a man consists not in seeing visions and in dreaming dreams, but in active charity and willing service.”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow