Today is #GivingTuesday, a global day dedicated to giving back, always on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, kicking off the charitable season.
I had the pleasure of joining the Tampa Bay Bloggers earlier today for a Twitter chat that focused on #GivingTuesday. It was a great hour-long discussion on different ways to give back to your community. Whether you donate your time, money, or products to the charity of your choice, you are helping someone and that is such a wonderful feeling.
In 2012, my husband and I started Jingle Bikes For Kids, in honor of my dad who passed away in 2010. The thought behind it was based on something my dad did about 15 years ago. He was at Wal-Mart and saw Toys For Tots outside. He wanted to buy a toy and make a donation. While in the toy department, he overheard a little boy asking his parents for a bike and they said they could not get one that year. My dad, being the generous man that he was, did something wonderful. He offered to buy the bike for the parents to give to the little boy, and they accepted, very much overwhelmed by his generosity.
My husband and I purchase 2 bikes and helmets for children each November. If possible, we buy a third bike. Much of my family buys one as well, in addition to those of our friends who can. We deliver them to Toys For Tots and they are given to a child in need. The first year we did this, we went to the Toys For Tots warehouse and the amount of bikes there was amazing. It gave me such a warm feeling to know that our bunch of bikes being added to all they had would make so many children happy. And happy children makes for happy parents. I know that my dad would be so proud of what we doing each year all because of a small act of kindness he did that I have remembered every day since.
In it’s 4th year now, we have about 8 bikes so far to donate. Every bike counts and helps, so we are always looking for more to donate. If you are looking to do something today for #GivingTuesday or any day, and are interested in donating a bike to us, please let me know. You can comment on this post, or send me an email directly at crazylifeofmineblog at gmail dot com. Even if you are not local to us in the Tampa Bay area, you can still help.
This year, we need all bikes in hand by Thursday December 10th so we can deliver them on December 11th to the Toys For Tots local drive.
Giving back is a wonderful feeling. Despite challenges that we all face, we all have many things to be thankful for and to help someone else is incredible. No act of kindness or generosity is too small.