Warm-Weather Ways to Show You Care
By Christina Katz
Giving is always in season. Even though the media tends to emphasize generosity during winter’s holiday celebrations, summer is the perfect opportunity to model neighborliness, community service, and donating to worthwhile causes, especially as we collectively endure the COVID-19 pandemic. While sheltering-in-place limits the ways families can make in-person contributions to the community, there are still many ways to foster a giving spirit.
1. Capture gratitude. Create colorful postcards to mail to teachers, coaches, and instructors who have helped kids blossom in the past year. Keep the message short and sweet, and infuse the card with creativity.
2. Encourage bookishness. Sign up for a summer reading program; while physical libraries are closed, local libraries’ digital and audio collections are available. You can also buy books online. Go through your shelves and remove books you don’t want. When sheltering-in-place orders are lifted, donate them to a library.
3. Clean-out cabinets. Search your kitchen for food items that have not expired, and add a few extra nonperishable items to your grocery cart. With so many people out of work, food banks are in dire need of donations of all kinds.
4. Plant ahead. If you’re a gardener, plant an extra row or two of vegetables for the local food bank. Look online to check their policies before you plant.
5. Delight someone. Painting rocks is a fun summer activity that can be done indoors or out. Taking your painted stones on neighborhood walks and hiding them for unsuspecting new friends to find turns this craft activity into an adventure. For inspiration, check out paintedrocklife.com.
6. Banish bedroom clutter. Ask your kids to touch and sort every item in their rooms. Consider the best ways to donate or store little-used items. Create a memory bin where each child can stash prized possessions, but don’t go beyond one bin per child.
7. Create blessings. Create blessing bags for people experiencing homelessness. Fill them with things such as: bottled water, glasses wipes, hand sanitizer, lip balm, sunscreen, a sturdy comb, toothpaste, travel-size shampoo and conditioner, Band-Aids, and large Ziploc bags. Some sturdy foods that won’t melt in summer’s heat are: granola bars, meats in a pop-top can, foods in pouches, applesauce cups, nuts, dried fruit, beef jerky, mints, hard candies, and gum. Don’t forget plastic silverware and napkins. Call the Living Room, a Santa Rosa nonprofit that serves at-risk women and children, to find out when they are accepting donations: 579-0138. Or buy products on Amazon and have them sent to the nonprofit. When you go to thelivingroomsc.org and click on the Living Room’s Amazon Wishlist, you can choose items and then have them shipped directly to a special address.
8. Spread the fun. De-clutter the attic, basement, garage, shop, or shed. Dig out outgrown outdoor gear, sporting goods, and toys and set them aside. When shelter-in-place orders are lifted, donate them to a local family shelter.
9. Ship some love. Send care packages to elderly relatives who live far away. Draw a picture, write a poem, or make a handmade card. Include little things to surprise and delight them. If you are not sure what to send, maybe it’s time for a video chat.
10. Build small sanctuaries. Make baths for birds and butterflies and put them on opposite sides of your yard, since birds often prey on butterflies. Tuck both types of baths into areas with easily accessible shelter.
11. Encourage relaxation. Make homemade spa gifts to mail to friends. Bath salts, facemasks, and hand scrubs are fun to craft and will be cheerfully received. Search online for natural-based recipes that utilize what you grow in your garden.
12. Rise and shop. Give local businesses a shot in the arm. Peruse their websites and buy items from them online, or ask if you can order something and pick it up curbside or if they have no-contact home delivery.
13. Share your bounty. When new neighbors move in, dig up a sampler of flowers or veggies from your garden to help them start theirs. For the rest of your neighbors, gather seedlings, flowering plants or bouquets of flowers, and drop them by the front door with a kind note.
14. Help the Earth breathe. Plant a tree to help support clean air for future generations. Join the Arbor Day Foundation at arborday.org, and they will send you 10 trees to plant where you live.
15. Pull together. While sheltering-in-place, families are getting together via Zoom and other video conferencing apps. It’s a great way to share a backyard performance with loved ones. Whether you are a family of readers, musicians, or poets, come up with a summery way for the whole family to share what they enjoy doing.
Christina Katz is a nationally published journalist. Find her at christinakatz.com
.
Giving is always in season. Even though the media tends to emphasize generosity during winter’s holiday celebrations, summer is the perfect opportunity to model neighborliness, community service, and donating to worthwhile causes, especially as we collectively endure the COVID-19 pandemic. While sheltering-in-place limits the ways families can make in-person contributions to the community, there are still many ways to foster a giving spirit.
1. Capture gratitude. Create colorful postcards to mail to teachers, coaches, and instructors who have helped kids blossom in the past year. Keep the message short and sweet, and infuse the card with creativity.
2. Encourage bookishness. Sign up for a summer reading program; while physical libraries are closed, local libraries’ digital and audio collections are available. You can also buy books online. Go through your shelves and remove books you don’t want. When sheltering-in-place orders are lifted, donate them to a library.
3. Clean-out cabinets. Search your kitchen for food items that have not expired, and add a few extra nonperishable items to your grocery cart. With so many people out of work, food banks are in dire need of donations of all kinds.
4. Plant ahead. If you’re a gardener, plant an extra row or two of vegetables for the local food bank. Look online to check their policies before you plant.
5. Delight someone. Painting rocks is a fun summer activity that can be done indoors or out. Taking your painted stones on neighborhood walks and hiding them for unsuspecting new friends to find turns this craft activity into an adventure. For inspiration, check out paintedrocklife.com.
6. Banish bedroom clutter. Ask your kids to touch and sort every item in their rooms. Consider the best ways to donate or store little-used items. Create a memory bin where each child can stash prized possessions, but don’t go beyond one bin per child.
7. Create blessings. Create blessing bags for people experiencing homelessness. Fill them with things such as: bottled water, glasses wipes, hand sanitizer, lip balm, sunscreen, a sturdy comb, toothpaste, travel-size shampoo and conditioner, Band-Aids, and large Ziploc bags. Some sturdy foods that won’t melt in summer’s heat are: granola bars, meats in a pop-top can, foods in pouches, applesauce cups, nuts, dried fruit, beef jerky, mints, hard candies, and gum. Don’t forget plastic silverware and napkins. Call the Living Room, a Santa Rosa nonprofit that serves at-risk women and children, to find out when they are accepting donations: 579-0138. Or buy products on Amazon and have them sent to the nonprofit. When you go to thelivingroomsc.org and click on the Living Room’s Amazon Wishlist, you can choose items and then have them shipped directly to a special address.
8. Spread the fun. De-clutter the attic, basement, garage, shop, or shed. Dig out outgrown outdoor gear, sporting goods, and toys and set them aside. When shelter-in-place orders are lifted, donate them to a local family shelter.
9. Ship some love. Send care packages to elderly relatives who live far away. Draw a picture, write a poem, or make a handmade card. Include little things to surprise and delight them. If you are not sure what to send, maybe it’s time for a video chat.
10. Build small sanctuaries. Make baths for birds and butterflies and put them on opposite sides of your yard, since birds often prey on butterflies. Tuck both types of baths into areas with easily accessible shelter.
11. Encourage relaxation. Make homemade spa gifts to mail to friends. Bath salts, facemasks, and hand scrubs are fun to craft and will be cheerfully received. Search online for natural-based recipes that utilize what you grow in your garden.
12. Rise and shop. Give local businesses a shot in the arm. Peruse their websites and buy items from them online, or ask if you can order something and pick it up curbside or if they have no-contact home delivery.
13. Share your bounty. When new neighbors move in, dig up a sampler of flowers or veggies from your garden to help them start theirs. For the rest of your neighbors, gather seedlings, flowering plants or bouquets of flowers, and drop them by the front door with a kind note.
14. Help the Earth breathe. Plant a tree to help support clean air for future generations. Join the Arbor Day Foundation at arborday.org, and they will send you 10 trees to plant where you live.
15. Pull together. While sheltering-in-place, families are getting together via Zoom and other video conferencing apps. It’s a great way to share a backyard performance with loved ones. Whether you are a family of readers, musicians, or poets, come up with a summery way for the whole family to share what they enjoy doing.
Christina Katz is a nationally published journalist. Find her at christinakatz.com
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