Charitable Giving

During the Christmas season, many people get wrapped up (no pun intended) in the excitement and stress of the holiday that they forget about the charitable opportunities around them. Charitable giving is a great way to help those in your community and around the world.

Some of the charities that I personally believe in are:

Hope Mission:

Hope mission is based in Edmonton, Canada and serves 1000 meals over 3 meals a day to the homeless community in the area. In addition to meals Hope Mission offers a 24 hour emergency shelter that sees up to 700 men, women, and youth spend the night with numbers increased over the freezing winter months. Hope Mission also offers Men and Women's addiction recovery programs, transitional housing. Hope Mission offers lunch programs to schools in the Edmonton, Calgary, and Central Alberta inner city schools in addition to after school programs and summer camps.

In addition to financial donations, Hope Mission accepts clothing and small household goods.

For More information please visit: www,hopemission.com.

As part of the Association of Gospel Rescue Mission, Hope Mission has affiliate missions across North America. Find your local mission here.

Operation Christmas Child (Samaritan's Purse)

Operation Christmas Child is a program as part of The Samaritan's Purse International Relief Canada. The concept is simple. Get a shoe box, pick an age and gender, fill the box with toys and gifts from the list found at www.samaritanspurse.ca, and drop of the completed shoe boxes at one of the many drop-off centers across Canada. The Samaritan's Purse then takes the completed shoe boxes and uses them to provide supplies to children around the world living in poverty.

Shoe boxes can also be filled out online by making a financial donation here.

Your Local Children's Hospital

One way you can help locally is to donate toys to sick children at your local children's hospital. With the stress and financial burden of having a children in the hospital, many parents either forget to purchase or cannot afford Christmas presents for their sick child. Check out your local Children's hospital today to find out how you can help!