Thanksgiving is over and it’s time to work out plans for the holidays–and one of my favorite ways to do that is by teaching my kids about Giving Tuesday, setting them on a path for giving throughout the holiday season.
I was inspired to write this conversation because of my partner, T-Mobile, the Un-Carrier. T-Mobile has committed to helping give up to 5 million meals to people with a partnership with Feeding America, the nation’s largest hunger-relief nonprofit, hosting up to 100 employee volunteer events (how awesome is that?!) all across the US through the end of 2019.
How I’m Teaching My Kids About Giving Tuesday
- We’re talking about it. We’re not holding back, either. I have told my kiddos all about the fact that not everyone has enough.
- We’re making a Giving Pumpkin! I know this seems kind of silly, but wrapping a family tradition around giving is exactly how I plan to start my conversation with my kids.
- We’re deciding now how to give. When we have this conversation, it’s pointless without action, so while we’re making our Giving Pumpkin, we’re talking about exactly what we can give to help people in need.
So, How Do You Make a Giving Pumpkin?
Well, that’s super simple–I grabbed a white pumpkin and some fall-colored paints, then let the kids paint their hands and plant a stamp wherever they’d like.
Then, while that dried, we talked about what people need, what people want, and how we can help give to people who need things–a lot of the things that we’re very thankful for in our daily lives.
Some of the things we decided to do was start a coat drive at school, participate in a book drive that a neighbor is doing, and also visiting an angel tree.
Pretty good stuff for kiddos that aren’t even in 1st grade yet.
How Else Will We Give on Giving Tuesday?
Well, I’m going to be giving in partnership with T-Mobile for sure. Being a T-Mobile Ambassador has been key in helping me to learn about the different ways T-Mobile helps to give back to the community, as well as supporting Giving Tuesday.
It all starts on December 3rd with Save a Deal, Give a Meal, a way for T-Mobile customers to partner with the Un-Carrier to donate. On December 3rd, Giving Tuesday, when customers save any deal in the T-Mobile Tuesdays app, T-Mobile will automatically donate a meal to Feeding America.
Not a T-Mobile customer (yet)? Well, there’s another way for you to partner with the Un-Carrier. On December 3rd, Giving Tuesday, every time anyone tweets with the hashtag #GivingOnUs T-Mobile will contribute 10 meals (OMG! 10!!!) to Feeding America.
That means that, altogether, via Twitter and the T-Mobile Tuesdays app, T-Mobile plans to donate up to 5 million meals to Feeding America! Wow. Just wow.
So, join me on Tuesday, December 3rd, 2019 and tweet with the hashtag #GivingOnUs to let T-Mobile know you’re ready to give!