Archive for the ‘Christmas’ Category

Deed 5: Christmas Presents for Children

Posted: December 24, 2012 in Children, Christmas
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Every year around Christmas, my hometown has a program where you can buy gifts for an assigned family.  I have known about it for a few years and this year, I decided to take part in the program.  I was assigned children from 2 sets of families- 4 and 6 year old boys.  8 month and 3 year old girls.  I was given guidance that the girls needed clothes and the boys liked Spiderman and super heroes in general.

Clothes for the girls

Clothes for the girls

As I mentioned in my previous post, buying gifts for children is not exactly my area of expertise.  I can barely dress myself, so I knew I would struggle to buy clothes for the 2 little girls.  I decided to enlist the help of what I will call “one of Santa’s elves”, who has a lot more experience in this area.  The elf was able to help me find matching shirts, pants, jackets, and pajamas in a matter of minutes for the girls.

Gifts for the Boys

Gifts for the Boys

The boys on the other hand, were another story.  As a big kid myself, I share a mutual interest in Superheros.  I was able to find toys, a Spiderman hat and gloves, shirts, and pants rather quickly.

As I have learned throughout the years, the Christmas is all about giving back.  No matter how big or small, every bit helps.  Take some time to reflect and pay it forward this holiday season.

Deed 4: Answering a Letter to Santa

Posted: December 17, 2012 in Christmas
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Disney Princess Bicycle

Disney Princess Bicycle

I signed up to answer a letter to Santa through New York Cares who is partnering with SCAN New York(Supportive Chidren’s Advocacy Network).  The letter I received was from a 4 year old girl named Grace in New York.  Within the letter she asked for a bike, fish, or a doll.  As a 29 year old male without kids, I don’t know anything about dolls so I was certainly not qualified to purchase one for Grace.  I thought about getting her a fish as I had a goldfish as a kid that lived for over 14 years(a story for another day) however, fish come with additional expenses and responsibility for the owner.  I decided to purchase a bicycle as I still remember the joy I felt as a kid when my parents had a bicycle under the tree for me on Christmas morning.

Making the determination to buy a bicycle for Grace turned out to be the easy part.  I quickly realized I do not know anything about bikes for 4 year old girls.  Where do I buy one from? What size do I get?  What do 4 year old girls even like?  How in the world was I going to get it to uptown Manhattan quickly?  I called around to bike shops in New York, did some research online and checked every website I could think of that may have one(Target, Toys-R-Us, Walmart, Amazon, Kmart, etc).  I came to the determination that a 16 inch bike in pink was the best bet.  The next question was how could I get the bike there?  Carrying a giant box in a cab or on the subway wasn’t exactly feasible.  When I looked into shipping the bike, almost every website would take too long to get it there.  The last thing I wanted to happen was for Grace to be disappointed on Christmas.

I finally came across Walmart who had a 16″ Disney Princess bicycle that could be delivered quickly and made the purchase(pictured above).  I hope I bring happiness to Grace and her whole family this Christmas.

Deed 3: Christmas Tree Donation

Posted: December 13, 2012 in Christmas, donations, sandy
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christmas-treeChristmas has always been a special time of the year for me.  It is not about the presents, or Santa, or food, but about bringing family closer together and helping others in need.  It has always brought me joy to sit around the Christmas tree and enjoy time spent with family.

I came across an organization called New York Cares that is partnering with Anne’s Treeland in the Rockaways in NYC.  As some of you may know, this area was hit particularly hard by hurricane Sandy.  Many of the families have been displaced and lost nearly everything.  I made a donation that will result in a family receiving a Christmas tree for free.  I hope it brings joy to a special family in need during what may be the most difficult time of their lives.  Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

If you are interested in donating a tree, more information can be found here: http://blog.newyorkcares.org/?p=4875