Spread the Thanks!
November 21, 2017
If you have a lot to be thankful for this holiday season, spread the thanks! This holiday brings out the best in us. It seems to make us more grateful, more generous and more philanthropic than the entire rest of the year. Join the gratitude movement and take a moment to consider all the reasons you’re thankful this Thanksgiving by finding ways to give back and help others!
Random Acts of Gratitude
Like acts of kindness, random acts of gratitude spread the thanks can take time and resources but can pay big mental health dividends – it’s a scientific fact!
Scott Dinsmore of Live Your Legend offers up 29 ways to express gratitude to people you know and people you don’t, like leaving a huge tip or paying for someone’s meal. Click here to see how one mom reacted when a mystery patron paid for dinner out with her special needs son.
Brad Ronson is a husband and dad who writes about things that inspire him. He started his own random acts page with 103 ways to spread the thanks and give someone a heart-felt atta girl or atta boy!
His ideas are practical, unique and difference-making. And don’t miss the suggestions kind and grateful readers added in the comments section for other things you can do to help others over the Holidays or all year.
Giveaways and Gratitude
Donate your stuff. Instead of saving things in case you need them in 10 years, consider giving stuff to someone who needs it now. Here is a list of where to donate clothes, furniture, old phones, inkjet cartridges, children’s clothes and books, appliances, electronics, cars, eyeglasses and more. Some of these nonprofits will even pick up items at your house.
Walmart has two-pack earmuffs and the Dollar Tree has fleece-lined stocking caps to keep in your car and hand out to homeless people at freeway on-ramps and on street corners.
Snail-Mail Love
Through Send Kids the World you can send postcards to kids with life-threatening illnesses. What a great family activity, right? Connecting sick children with good-hearted people brightens everyone’s holiday and is great way to start a family tradition of giving back to the community every year over the Holidays.
Cards for Hospitalized Kids invites people to make and send holiday cards that will be distributed to hospitals and Ronald McDonald houses over the holiday season. What a snail-mail treat for kids who will be away from home on Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa!
Be The Match
Join the bone marrow registry. Certain types of patients with blood cancers can only survive if doctors find them a bone marrow match and perform a transplant. Lots of kids, moms and dads will have a chance at survival with a successful bone marrow match. Here’s how it works: send in a swab from your mouth. You are then added to the bone marrow registry and if you’re lucky enough to be a match, you have the option to save a life by donating bone marrow from your blood. You might be sore for a day or two afterwards, but that’s the trade-off for saving someone’s life! Get more information here.
Volunteer to Help Seniors in Aurora
The Senior Hub needs volunteers to visit seniors and relieve family caregivers. If you have two to three hours you could “donate” them to a home-bound senior who needs a friendly face! They might need help with paperwork, errands and shopping and you could easily brighten someone’s day. Contact program coordinator Johanna Glaviano at 720.859.2248 or jglaviano@seniorhub.org.
Expressing gratitude, is good for you, offering positive psychological benefits long after the act. Something as simple as writing a letter can bring a feel-good boost for months – for the giver and the receiver. So, get busy being grateful — it’s the most selfishly unselfish thing you can do!
Giving Thanks at Southshore
The homebuyers in Southshore have the good fortune to live lakeside and enjoy all the benefits of homeownership in this amenity-rich master-planned community. Take a spin through the eye-popping new Delaney model from Richmond American Homes and don’t miss the new home designs from Century Communities at The Hills in Southshore. With both ranch and two-story models, these new homes at the lake are priced from the upper $300s to the $700s.