At the end of 2012 I asked for a few suggestions for “25 Day” series on the PPP Facebook page, and received a ton of great responses, which led to the series 25 Days to a More Organized You and 25 Days of Slow Cooking. But someone mentioned a fantastic idea for a series on giving, and while I’d hoped to get my act together and start March off with a daily giving post, life happened and there’s just no way for me to get it all done. (I sure wish there was!)
So, instead of a daily series this month, I figured we could chat weekly on easy ways to give {on a budget!} so that none of us become overwhelmed. As a couponer, there are so many easy ways to get items free or close to free, and using just a few extra dollars can really help bless another person. Yesterday, my child’s kindergarten teacher requested that items be sent in tomorrow, as she’s helping feed the homeless over the weekend. Since I keep a donation bag in our guest bedroom (which goes to our local food pantry once a month), it was easy for me to grab what they were looking for. We almost always have things at home to send in!
We’ll talk about other easy ways to give throughout the month, but I’d love to encourage you to consider purchasing just one item this week (even a free item!) to give to someone in need if you’re not already doing that. Right now PPP gets visits from over 65,000 folks nationwide each month (WOW!), so if each of us just picked up one box of cereal using a coupon each week, we’d fill up over 2 million bowls of cereal in the course of just a month. (See what happens when we all work together?)
Please (please!) don’t feel like you need to give if you’re in a position where your finances are so strained that it’s more than you can do. But, if you’re able, think about unique ways that you can give this month . . . I’d love to hear your suggestions and am excited to see how we do!
Want to read more about passionate giving? Here are a few posts to get you started:
- $100 Challenge (Kingdom Assignment)
- What Happens When We All Work Together
- Saving, Giving, & Living Abundantly
- Giving Passionately?
- Passionate Giving: A Call To Action
- Food Pantry Needs
- Blessed {and I didn’t even know it}
“And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.” Matthew 10:42
Have you been able to give an item or two to someone in need in 2013? Please leave a comment to let me know about it ~ I love hearing from you! 
One of the local churches has a hot meal for those in need every friday. They also have a food pantry for those in need and they collect and send donations for a north alabama charity called Sydney’s Safe Foundation that feeds hungry children. I donate weekly all that I can and try to pick up a few boxes of saltines for the hot meal day. It is very rewarding. Some weeks are better than others, and I love getting my kids involved so they learn the rewards of giving and how great it feels to look outside yourself and give generously! They always seem a little nervous when they see me bagging it up like we are going to run out and they wont get any, lol, but we always get more and usually ALOT more than we could dream of using, ie. The 15 boxes of cereal i got this week for dirt cheap! I absolutely love helping others out and look forward to making my trip to the church tomorrow
I have a small food pantries in my area where I donate food and I have you to thank. Visiting your site has helped me save on my groceries weekly and also seeing the items you donate inspired me to give. I drop off weekly or biweekly and I have to tell you right now, with the price of food going up and up anything you donate is appreciated and gratefully received by those who are hungry and right now facing threat of greater hunger. With so many great BOGO with coupon match ups you can really give a lot for very little. I want to thank you for all you do.
So excited Jodi and Amy to hear how you’re giving – really, that’s the main reason I started PPP, and I *love* that you all are doing something to help those in our local communities. I really just keep thinking there’s simply no reason in America for anyone to ever go without ~ and am so glad to hear how you all have helped others. That just made my morning!