Parents Talk Q&A

How Do You Show Charity During the Holidays?

'Tis the season to give, but to whom?

Starting around Dec. 5, my telephone started ringing several times a day, and the postman started bringing noticeably thick envelopes. Every nonprofit or fundraising organization I've given to in the last year contacted me to ask for one more donation before Jan. 1. And that's not all. The local basketball tournament needs volunteers. The soup kitchen has a special feast, and they need servers. Last year, the Chatham High School basketball teams held the Cougar Classic to benefit the Senior Center of the Chathams. Each year the Chatham Jaycees benefit donate money from their Christmas tree sales to one local organization, and the Chatham Township Fire Department also sells trees to raise money for their needs. This is the time of year when…

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Parents Talk Q&A

How Can Parents Encourage Children To Help Others?

Encouraging charity and generosity brings awareness of those less fortunate.

When she was little, my sister was passionate about animals. She was so passionate that when she heard pandas were endangered, she promptly picked some bamboo leaves from our grandparents' backyard, packaged them up with some money she had saved in her piggy bank and mailed it to the World Wildlife Fund. If pandas were starving in China, my little sister was going to help feed them.  This is the perfect example of a child's natural inclination to help others. While it occurs naturally in most children, parents can nurture and encourage this behavior so that their kids develop an awareness and a sensitivity to the needs of others.  We are not alone in this world and we all need to learn how to get along with others. Maybe the first step is …

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Group Collecting School Supplies For Chatham Soldier Stationed in Afghanistan

Soldier graduated from Chatham High in 2002.

A group is collecting school supplies that will be sent to U.S. Army 1st Lt. Ed Gibbons Jr. in Afghanistan, who graduated from Chatham High School in 2002 and is helping to construct a school in the country. Tom and Patty Fox are helping to collect the supplies, which Gibbons needs in an effort to help build community resources in Afghanistan. Helping build a school is part of his work there. Gibbons is seven months into a 12 month deployment. He graduated from West Point in 2007.   According to an e-mail sent out by the Fox family, Gibbons is "a fire support officer for an artillery unit, but he is also responsible for the development and construction of vital community resources." The supplies he needs include: spiral notebooks, pencils…

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