Giving Thanks and Reaching Out To Your Commmunity

Earlier this week, my husband reminded me that we should donate to Northwest Harvest, Washington’s statewide hunger relief agency.  I had forgotten how far Northwest Harvest is able to stretch a dollar to tackle the fight to eliminate hunger – they can feed a family of three a nutritious meal for only 67 cents!  You can’t even buy a pack of gum for that these days, it amazes me!   In this down economy, I was so encouraged to read in the Northwest Harvest pamphlet that donations are up over 30% from last year.  Way to step it up Washington State, especially during tough times! 

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, we wanted to share some of the inspiring examples of how the creative community has banded together in the spirit of giving and helping others.

At the Best of the Northwest Art  Show, held in Seattle a few weekends ago, we were touched to see a complete section of the show set aside for handmade products donated by the participants of the show to be auctioned off at a later date to benefit Seattle Children’s Hospital.

Give Artfully is an online gift registry and gallery of handmade arts and crafts that donates 5% of all sales to nonprofit organizations, such as Arts for Life, which is dedicated to improving the lives and healthcare of kids fighting cancer and other serious diseases.  Craft Emergency Relief Fund is another organization devoted to helping professional craft artists strengthen and sustain their careers that is highlighted on Give Artfully.

I’ve also come across some amazing communities that craft for charity.  The website All Free Crafts has a dedicated page called charity crafts that features various craft groups that have united for a cause.  For example, HalfKnits is a group of volunteers who knit and crochet for various charities in the United States and abroad and Marine Corps Kids is a nonprofit that sends care packages to babies of deployed Marines and Soldiers.   The Craft Gossip blog also has a category on their website called crafting for a cause, which is so inspiring to read because it features the amazing causes that the creative community has united together to support.

There are so many incredible art and craft organizations that come together in the spirit of giving, and obviously you don’t have to be part of a larger group to give.  I love coming across people who do their part individually for the greater good, like one of the artists, Christina Huarte of Benalily Designs who will be featured in the Twelve Days of Christmas Giveaway coming up in December.  A portion of every sale from Benalily Designs is given to the Leukemia and Lymphoma society…thank you for inspiring us Christina!

In addition to giving to charitable organizations, it’s the modest, little ways of giving that mean so much.  I was reading one of my favorite blogs this week, Blonde Designs, which had a post about creating a Thanksgiving blessings mix, which is basically a baggie full of goodies (like Hershey kisses representing love for family/friends and dried fruits representing harvest) that are symbolic to the holiday.  It’s such a clever and simple way to do something nice for your friends, family, or neighbors and such a fun way to teach children the value of giving.

Ultimately, as we wind up the Thanksgiving festivities, let’s all remember to give during the holidays, whether big or small because the reward of giving is so much greater than the reward of receiving and it’s truly the thought that counts.