CHILDREN AND PHILANTHROPY: Teaching Kids to Understand the True Meaning of the Season: Giving
| November, 2003 |
Media Contacts:
Carpenters & Associates
Jean Carpenter or Christine Volkmer
Office: 214-520-3666
carpenters@carpenterspr.com
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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Teaching a child that the holidays aren't only about receiving is not always easy in our materialistic culture. Passing on values of giving back to make the world a better place can be a challenge, especially with the pressure of holiday expectations. But it can be done.
However, "Kids get pleasure from seeing someone else happy," says Charles A. Smith, Ph.D., a professor of child development at the School of Family Studies and Human Services at Kansas State University. The act of giving unleashes the idea that a child can touch someone's life, Smith says. Heifer International believes that experience empowers children to know they can make a difference in the world.
Heifer International is a great idea for parents seeking an experience in which their child can find pleasure in bringing happiness to someone else. While kids might have difficulty in understanding what it means to write a check to charity, they can easily grasp the power of giving an animal - a goat, flock of chickens, cow, llama or honey bees - to name a few that Heifer International provides for giving to poor families in 48 countries around the world.
Children delight in earning their own money to help make the gift of an animal possible for those who have no resources to get milk, eggs, wool, fertilizer, or honey. They can participate in Read to Feed, an educational program that teaches about places in the world where the children's lives are much different from their own. Or they can "Carol for Cows" or make and sell animal ornaments and cookies, or decorate cans with Heifer International catalog pictures for placement at local stores and restaurants who will collect money to help end world hunger.
From Hanukkah to Christmas to Kwanzaa, Heifer offers a unique way to teach a child about giving back to help the less fortunate. Want Grandpa to have a cow? Let Johnnie honor him with his donation to Heifer International in Grandpa's name. Grandpa receives a beautifully designed "honor card" explaining the gift. Grandpa tells Johnnie that giving is truly better than receiving, especially when it makes a difference in the life of someone who truly needs help. The world is a better place and Johnnie knows he helped make it so.
For more information, order Heifer's Most Important Gift Catalog in the World by calling 800-696-1918 or visit www.heifer.org for the easiest online giving experience ever!
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