giving

On Monday night I hosted Dine out for Hunger at Cosi in Exton. We haven’t gotten final results from the sales, but the raffle items brought in $220, that’s more than 1500 meals for hungry Philadelphia area families! The event, and my work on The Childhood Hunger Ends Here campaign has proven to me that by spending a few hours dedicated to hosting event our local community could make a huge impact.

Giving Back without breaking the bank

Everywhere you look there are causes, and wonderful groups helping people. Whether it’s a local soup kitchen, a walk for a disease, or the SPCA-you have a myriad of causes to choose to give to. You may be short on cash though, so what are some ways you can help without going into debt?

Lend a hand

For many charities having people available is more important than dollars. If you’re passionate about pets you could donate a few hours to caring for abandoned pets at your local animal shelter. Being on hand to answer questions, or do the behind the scenes work can be a huge help to understaffed charities.

Use your skills

Whether you’re a carpenter, website designer, social media marketer, or a fantastic babysitter; you can find ways to use your skills to help the causes you support. Not sure if your chosen charity could use your special skills? Shoot off a quick email and ask what they need. You may be surprised at the simple tasks that they need help with.

Shop for a Cause

Whether it’s buying Girl Scout cookies, getting your car washed by the local football team, or buying brands that give a portion of profits to charity you can find great ways to support causes while buying something you might otherwise need.

Every penny counts

While you may only have $10 a month to donate to charity, that $10 may go much farther in the hands of the charity than you think. For instance, while I was touring the LA food bank I learned that food banks often need high protein foods. So while your donation of canned goods is helpful, spending $10 on canned goods would be significantly less than they would pay for the same canned goods. In some cases they can purchase 5-10 times as much of a food they need then if you purchased it yourself.

What are ways you give back without spending a lot?

Kelly

Reminder: I have a donation bar at the top of this page that money goes directly to Philadelphia area families via PhilAbundance.

For more on giving without spending a ton, stop by my show playback page (will embed it when I can access the code).

Disclosure: I am being compensated to act as a blogger corespondent for Childhood Hunger Ends Here, but all opinions and experiences are my own.

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