Giving Back During the Holidays

There’s snow on the ground, Chanukah just ended and Christmas is around the corner. The Holiday spirit has been alive in the blogsphere with lots of holiday foods, drinks and gift ideas. I love reading about them, and even contributing my own recipes and gift ideas.

However, in the midst of all of this celebration, sometimes we forget about those who are not quite as fortunate as ourselves.

I feel SO lucky to be able to eat the way I do. I try to eat wholesome, fresh and organic ingredients as often as possible and I am fortunate enough that they are always at my disposal.

However, for many, food is not readily available. According to feedingamerica.org, for 1 in 8 Americans, hunger is a reality. In 2008, 4.8 million households accessed emergency food from a food pantry one or more times.

There are a lot of ways we can help out. For the past 9 weeks I’ve been helping out by participating in something called “Project Feed Me”.

Natalie from NoNo2YoYo started this program designed to help feed thousands of hungry families. Members committed to buying two food items per week for the entire 9 week project. At the end of nine weeks members would donate their items to their local food bank.

Well, nine weeks have passed, and today I went to drop off the items.

Here’s all the food packaged up!

I dropped it off at the Daily News Readers Care Food Drive

It is SO easy to donate and give back. All I did was pick up a couple extra food items a week and then drop them off.

Want to know how you can give back?

Check out:

Feeding America: The nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief charity.

Toys for Tots: Donate toys to less fortunate children.

Meals on Wheels: Provides home-delivered meals services to people in need.

ASPCA or The Humane Society: Donate or join the fight against animal cruelty.

If you know of any other worthy causes or ways to give back, please add it to the list!

**How are you giving back this holiday season?**