The Best Christmas Gift Anyone Can Give Children
73The best Christmas Gift anyone can give this and every Christmas is to donate a toy to a needy cause. We are all so busy planning our Christmas that we tend to forget about those less fortunate than we are.
There are poverty-stricken areas all over the world and children
who have never had the privilege of receiving a Christmas gift.
The
children that touch my heart are those that are living in shelters as a
result of domestic violence or child abuse. They are the innocent
victims of our sick society and we can make a difference to them.
We may not be able to give them the homes and love that they so desperately need but we can donate a toy so that they too can experience Christmas.
Caught_by_Aryellas
These children have had their childhood brutally taken away from
them through no fault of their own. We can make them feel like a child
again, even if it is just for a brief moment.
They ask nothing and expect less but they deserve everything we have to offer them. Find it in your heart to donate a gift to these poor abused children that have suffered more in their short lives than anybody should ever have to suffer.
I went in search of a non-profit organization that are hosting a Christmas drive and came up with the following:
Storybook playhouse to be raffled for good cause
- http://www.walb.com/Global/story.asp?S=13431584
LAKELAND, GA (WALB) A playhouse for children is being raffled off in Lakeland for a good cause. Proceeds go to an agency that serves as the voice for abused and neglected children.
Gifts for Neglected Children
- http://florida.broadwayworld.com/article/Manatee_Players_Joins_Manatee_Childrens_Services_for_a_Merr
The Manatee Players is once again joining with Manatee Children's Services to collect toys and gifts for local abused and neglected children and teens.
Who are the people driving this Christmas Toy Donation
Dreamcatchers For Abused Children are a Michigan based world-wide
Non-profit 501 (c)3 Child abuse organization dedicated to child abuse
and neglect awareness and prevention. This organization was originated
when the CEO and Founder, Sandra
walked in on her step-father sexually molesting her 5 year old
daughter. She later discovered that this had been happening for the
past three years since her daughter was two years old. In hindsight she
felt she should have been able to detect the warning signs - which she
had not.
Sandra has now made it her mission to educate the public on
child abuse in an attempt to prevent as many similar cases in future.
The organization's mission is to educate the public on child abuse
signs and symptoms, statistics, intervention, reporting and prevention.
They also aim to assist victims and survivors of abuse in locating the
proper resources to achieve full recovery.
Amber Child Safety's mission is to assist
law enforcement and the communities they serve in the recovery of
abducted and missing children by providing high speed, cost effective
communication tools. Their top priority is the safe recovery of missing
and abducted children with the aid of the Amber Missing Child Safety
System™. This system collects information about your child's physical
appearance as well as other important information that could assist in
recovering children in the unfortunate event of them being abducted or
kidnapped.
Their goal is to collect all the information that would be required to conduct a complete and thorough investigation into missing or abducted child cases and thereby save precious time should the need ever arise.
What Christmas Gift to Buy
Obviously it really does not matter what type of toy you wish to donate as the field is wide open. The "Tis the Season" campaign is looking for toys for children between 0 and 18 years of age. There is no minimum value of the gift and the only stipulation is that the gift must be unwrapped. This is obviously so that they can assess which toy would best suit a particular age group or gender.
There are pick up points scattered throughout the States and the contact numbers are displayed on the advertisement.
Let us show these children that Hubpages cares and let us show them that America cares for the broken children of the United States of America.
Hasbro Baby Alive
 | Amazon Price: $64.99 List Price: $24.99 |
Suggested Christmas Gift For Girls Aged 3 -5 Years
After some consideration I decided that a doll would probably
be welcomed by many of the little girl's. I found a perfect little
doll, not too expensive and ideal for little girls in the 3 to 5 year
age group.
This cute little doll has a soft body and legs and
plastic hands and head. She arrives dressed in permanent underclothes(
so they can't go missing)
By pressing her tummy the doll reacts by
cooing and giggling. This should delight a little girl - a doll that
actually re-acts to your touch. Included in the purchase is a 5-in-1
plastic doll carrier with a printed fabric cover. The doll fits snugly
into the carrier which is fitted with velcro straps to secure the doll
in place.
The carrier can be folded to form a purse, cradle, carrier, snugli, and chair. A baby bottle completes the set.
The doll is battery operated and the only down-side to this doll is that it does not have a switch to turn off the sound. This would mean the batteries would need to be removed if the child sleeps with the doll.
Link To Dreamcatchers For Abused Children
If You Are Still Not Convinced - Watch This Video
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KHUMs "Stop the Violence" campaign starts 2 Nov 2009
Fundraiser for Needy Children’s Homes
- gainesvilletimes.com - Local groups seek toys for needy children
The magic of Christmas morning often centers around what's under the Christmas tree. But for many children this year, that magic won't happen without the help of local agencies. - Festival of Trees benefits children's home | Dothan Eagle
The Wiregrass Childrens Home Festival of Trees will be held Thursday, Nov. 12, at 6 p.m. at the Dothan Civic Center.
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Everywhere we look we see violence - in movies, on the news and in many of the computer games that we give our children to play with. Its not surprising then that domestic violence and abuse is often overlooked or excused. Contrary to what many peopl - Celebrating Christmas With An Abusive Partner
Christmas is a time for rejoicing. A time for family celebrations and a time for giving. All over the world the different nations, religions and even families have their own unique tradition that they...
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This is a fantastic idea, thanks for the awereness call.
Thanks Storytellersrus
I'm glad if I could remind you of all the not so fortunate broken children who need our support.
Thanks Anath
Glad you listened to my awareness call!
To be honest I always wanted to get involved in something like that specially around the Christmas season which is so important for children. But I am ashamed to say that I never found the time to do it. Maybe this time I finally get round to do it.
Anath - If I can get even one person to donate to this worthy cause then that would make this hub worthy of a million dollars to me!
Great, great hub Laura.
Thanks Lynne
This is a great hub Laura. One of my former boss here gives donations to a shelter for mistreated children as Christmas gifts to us, his people. It's just his way and I never thought to question him (never thought to ask for real gifts also). Now I thank God I didn't.
Thanks emievil
Glad I could enlighten you on those gifts that were given to shelters on your behalf!
Hello Laura.Thank you for reminding us to be compassionate this Christmas. There is so much need in this world.
Thanks lelanew
It's so easy to forget the plight of those less fortunate
Thank you Laura, for posting this hub. I'm sure all the abused children who receive a gift thank you, too.
Thanks Paradise
Let's hope that I can convince a few people to donate and help to make these poor innocent victims a Christmas to remember.
Great Hub Laura! I like what you are doing! I have been giving some gift cards to people who need it, like $1000.00 walmart gift card or target gift card from my website. Anything I can do to help.
Thanks Robert. I am so glad to hear that you are also involved in helping these poor children. We may never know how happy it makes them but it makes us all the richer for giving!
Great idea! These poor children have so much to worry about the rest of the year, the least we can do is provide them with a nice christmas!
we have many of the same thoughts. Thanks for sharing this. I will look to give this Christmas.
Thanks mistywild.
Glad I could motivate you to give to the needy children this Christmas.
Hey Laura,
Its great to have writers like you in our community. As a matter of fact writers always stays ahead making these sorts of reviving things, because all the rest of us remain so busy with our daily life that they cant keep up with the time. I also like to add this here that each and every writers has tele-scope and by dint of which they can see through a long way. Its really good that you have written such a fantastic hub and I hope the children in our country from Bangladesh get Christmas Gifts.
Thanks
http:// www.hubpages.com/hub/Corporate-Christmas-Gifts-Ideas
Here here, Laura! It's about time people stop focusing on spending such exorbitant sums on each other and instead give to a worthy cause!
Thanks Tom,
I agree, its so easy to forget about those less fortunate than ourselves.
Thanks Tom,
I agree, its so easy to forget about those less fortunate than ourselves.
Great job Laura... By the way I popped by to say that I chose this hub to reinforce mine... Hope its okay...
Merry Christmas and Happy Hubbing...
Thanks GeneralHowziter
I am honored that you chose this hub to reinforce yours. The stronger we can get the message out the better
What a great hub. I feel for the children. Thanx for sharing.
Thanks nikki
Now I can see why this Hub is ranked with a perfect score of 100, well done!!
Thank You Himitsu
Oh Laura,
What a lovely, beautiful thing you have done. I can see why they couldn't give you anything less than the perfect score. You have captured something so incredibly sad, yet at the same time wonderful in this hub. It brought tears to my eyes when I watched those videos. The children that are subjected to this kind of abuse do not ask for it and certainly don't deserve it. Often they are just a victim or a bystander who gets in the way. Your idea of a gift for them is nothing short of the most extreme act of kindness that anyone could give a child going through such a traumatic time. I think giving a little girl a beautiful doll like the one you have chosen is the most perfect thing. I know any little girl is lucky to get one, but especially a little girl who has been victimised in the worst way possible would think that she was so special, it would mean everything in the world to her. I am so glad you have thought of this and congratulations again for doing such a kind and thoughtful story Laura. God Bless BB.
Thanks BB
Hope my message makes a difference to a few children's Christmas this and every year.
I came to visit your 100 score hub and discovered what a great thing you are doing here. Well done seems understated.
Thanks travelsepresso
Wonderful work, and deserving of the 100 score.This is such a worthy idea too.
Thanks Earnest
Whoa, my highest Hub is only 97 hehehe, but still that was cool...
This hub deserves 101 or more just kidding...
:)
Thanks generalhowziter
Yours will still reach 100!
You're a natural, Laura. Congrats on hitting a perfect 100 on this Hub! I got my first (and only one so far) 100 hubscore hub on my Autumn in New Paltz, New York hub about a month ago and I was ecstatic.
Thank you for reading me. Here's to more 100 Hubscore Hubs to you credit :D
Thanks Dohn. And here is to yours :D
Nice Article. God Bless
you are absolutely right about the best Christmas gift.so many people are less fortunate than us but still many are not content with what they have.
I only read the first paragraph, for which I apologize (don't have time to read the rest). But, I strongly disagree with toys being the best kind of Christmas gifts.
What it enforces is a belief in children, both the receiving and giving, that toys--material goods--is what makes us happy. The Will Smith movie The Pursuit of Happiness is nice in his struggles and fighting will, but what it teaches people is that the pursuit of happiness is a Wall Street job, resulting in grand monetary earnings. To paraphrase Plato: the person who can make happiness dependent on himself, has found the best way of living.
The children of families that can't afford toys probably can't afford a good education either. So give them books, give them mind games, give them an experience (theme park ticket, play ticket, etc), give them something that they can learn and grow from. Don't give them toys that will only serve to socialize the girls into being mothers and housewives with incorrect perceptions of the dimensions of the female body, and the boys into car racing, house building, action men, concerned more with their brute strength than expressing their tender feelings.
Charity is nice (although a socialist government would take care of the poor), so I applaud you for that.
And again, I am sorry for not reading the entire hub. If my comment comes off as misguided due to this fact then simply disregard it.
Swefelix - that is the danger of not reading the hub and I respect your thoughts on the subject but they are misguided. This hub is about traumatized children who have been through hell and you are concerned about misconceptions about toys. Next time I advise you to read a hub before commenting!
Laura, I cannot think of a better use for the hubs than to promote worthwhile causes such as this one. Nice job. For the last two years I've requested my friends and family donate to charities for kids and animals And our returning troops instead of getting me gifts I don't really need. I'll add this one to my list. Cheers, Coach Albert
Thank you very much Coach. I am glad you recognized the spirit in which this hub was written. These children need all the love and support they can get, even if it is only by way of a gift to show that somebody cares.
Alright Laura, then I apologize. And realize I spent time and effort writing a worthless comment.
I still think most toys are bad gifts though, regardless of a kid's case.
Thank you soooooo much for posting this for our Christmas Toy Drive!!!! We greatly appreciate your promotion!!!
Sandra Potter
Founder
Dreamcatchers for Abused Children
beautiful idea.. thanks for sharing
Nice article. Thanks for bringing up the awareness.
I'm always looking for new charities for my family to give to. Thank you for sharing this great information. And Merry Christmas! And, to Swefelix, I do agree that books are a great gift, especially for children in a situation of abuse (books open up a world of imagination and allow a reader to get lost for a while).
Thanks Melvin.
Glad you found the article useful.
Thanks roarsmom
Merry Christmas to you too. Glad you dropped by!
Thanks for writing this. I've written letters to the editor in my local paper urging people to donate toys for needy children. If everyone would help just a little...
Thanks for reading. Glad to hear that you try to help the people in your community.
Your giving truly does make a difference! There is so much need.
Thanks Penny - I hope this hub motivates many to give to the needy this Christmas!
it is very warm,thank u !but i want to know if i can donate shoes to them?something like ugg boots.
As I was reading this great hub, I kept thinking that I should visit a homeless shelter for abused children and not only give them a Christmas gift, but be their friend. These kids are probably feeling lonely, depressed, deserted and unloved; and so if people would actually visit them and converse with them, that'd make them feel a whole lot better. Then they'd see that there are loving people in the world who care and have compassion, and they'd have renewed hope. I keep picturing a child receiving a toy from someone they don't know in the mail, and still feeling sad. They need love and friendship even more than they need the toys.
However, toys would sure help a lot, just the same. This shows them that there are caring people in the world, and it gives them something fun to play with to lift their moods. Imagine if lots of people sent them toys, then they could end up with a huge amount of toys to cheer them up all year-round!
Thanks for caring about these abused kids and enlightening people about all of the parental abuse, incest and molestation that's been going on in huge numbers for a long time now. It needs to be stopped. I'm glad to hear there are some good organizations around trying to stop it. Also, I'm glad to hear that there are some good organizations around that are trying to find abducted kids.
Thanks sxljk As far as donating shoes - You would need to contact the organization - If they do not need or want them I am sue that there are many organizations in your area that would welcome shoes.
Thanks Maraiya
Glad that this hub got you to thinking of what you can do for these children and I think it is a brilliant idea to find out how you can what more you can do to make a difference in these young people's lives.
i agree with you sis...
Thanks mercon
Every year the military does a donate a toy for an underprivileged child. A store in our area and other areas I'm sure won't let the military or others set up a box for this donation process. I refuse to shop at this store and I hope others won't for that reason. The store is Target. Terrible stuff.
Thank you for this information fishtiger
This Hub made me cry. No child should go without Christmas. Great writing! Keep it up! Your friend, Melissa
Thanks for the comment Melissa. Did not mean to make you cry rather just to motivate you to give a gift to one of these causes.
Great article and we already support and give to charities of this nature. It is rewarding year round and especially at Christmas.
Thanks Putz - Glad to hear that you are already donating to charities. Merry Christmas to you and your family!
Good Hub Laura, It was not so much informative as everyone knows about these campaigns. We certainly have strong Christmas campaigns here in Australia. The Salvation Army does most of this work and our celebrities always jump on for public events. It does however leave me with a lot of questions about children's shelters and abuse. Speaking from experience things can be pretty bad in these places for kids, albeit for me it was so long ago. There needs to be more emphasis put on funding and regulation for shelters, donations don't quite do it. As you said in your wonderful hub. These children need to feel like children again even if it is just for a moment. Well a moment is not enough, full stop. I don't have any answers and I have certainly made my share of donations but if it is to get better we need to make abuse a health issue. Perhaps some of the big insurance companies who fleece us regularly can give a portion of their profits to these institutions. How could we accomplish that? Please don't get me wrong, a good hub always makes you think further about an issue, for me it certainly did that. Kind regards.
Thanks bearclawmedia
I agree whole-heartedly with what you say. This hub was part of a hubmob hub about Christmas. I decided to use the Christmas theme to remind people of the plight of children who have suffered as a result of domestic violence. Read my hub "Living with DV is damaging our children" for a more informative hub on the effects of domestic violence on children.
I am truly sorry to hear that you were exposed to such traumatic experiences as a child. May you have a wonderful Christmas!
We can always do more to help others who are more in need. Thanks.
Giving a toy is a nice idea. So is giving your time. We've always let our kids each pick out a toy to give. It then goes to either The Haven or The Lighthouse which are 2 local shelters in our area for abused women and children. Last year we also participated in packing and delivering gifts. I think it was one of the best things we ever did as a family. It opened my kids eyes to how fortunate they are, plus the kids we were fortunate enough to visit with were truly grateful. Those kids gave back to us more joy than we gave to them. Since then my eldest daughter has started regularly volunteering. It's amazing how a small scrap of her time mean's so much to those kids. It's also amazing, and saddening, to see the never ending stream of broken families. Thanks for writing the hub and reminding everyone that we can all do something to brighten another's day if only for a little while.
Hi Vintagetreasures
Thank you for this wonderful addition to the hub. It is true - giving to those that are truly needy can be so rewarding. The appreciation and warmth that you get in return is worth more than a million gifts received out of a sense of duty. The act of giving will provide you with the best gift anyone could ask for - it warms your heart.
Thank you for sharing!
This is a touching hub. We always give toys every year at the kids toy drive, even though we are broke ourselves. My family at least has a roof over their heads. Nice hub.
Hi, Was a Great Hub, Its always a good thing to remember those that are less forunate than our selfes, actually I came from a bit of that background, but duringing the era I grew up, most families kept things like that in the closet, but I do remember that I really never thought much about those moments of abuse, but as the years unfolded, I found that the actual manifistations creep up slowly and become most difficult to sort out and resolve, But thanks to deicated Parents and Indiviual such as you, who brought about all the Organazation that exsist today. Which have allowed all these children to resolve these events, while gently placing them back into life copeing far better than earlier abused children, so they can move on with thier lives with far less emotional and pschological disorders. Your vision on how gifts can heal is very true, but the art of what they might respond better to, was the best of your work. Children who have been exposed to trumatic events, in alot of case seemly open up new channels in how they use thier mind, thus thier thinking become more acute, making thier thought far keener.( Thinking become far deeper and analytical)
Thanks Tamarind. Glad to hear that you already do donate toys to the shelters in your area.
Amez, Thanks for your informative input. I place great value on input from people who experienced domestic violence as a child. Not all children bear the same scars and a lot depends on the support system that they have, the degree of violence that they were exposed to and the age and personality of the child.
Thanks for your comments!
Great article about very important sociological problems. I'm really glad that such topics are available for large amount of people and not everyone can read this valuable text. For myself I must say that I hate abusing anyone, especially children. That is huge problem that we still must face and there is nothing we can do to prevent it in 100% of cases.
Thanks for your comment Thomas and I agree other than making people more aware of the problem and offering our assistance where we can there is not much else we can do - but at least it is better than doing nothing.
Excellent post! I really enjoyed reading it. I will be back for more!
Hi Laura!
You are right on the money with this hub! My daughter and I just gave a few new toys to the toys for tots charity for youngsters and are donating her gently used toys for children that have been abused and in the hospitals. I love this and I am so glad that you decided to write a hub about this, hopefully others will become more educated on the spirit of giving to others who are less fortunate this holiday season! Bless you! :)
http://hubpages.com/hub/Cutest-Santa-Baby-Havoc please check out this HUB
Hey Laura, I featured your awesome article on my website's big list of the Best Christmas Gift Ideas Blogs on the Internet! Come check it out!
Thanks Tom, Much appreciated!
A lot of people are in need and they feel it even more this time of year.
this is an amazing hub. It's not only about the gifts but giving awareness to all people who will read this is simply heart warming. Thank you for sharing this wonderful hub.
Great hub.
Storytellersrus Level 7 Commenter 2 years ago
Laura, thank you for your thoughtful hub. With snow piling up outside it does feel like Christmas in Denver. Early reminders like this bring the season of giving close to my heart.
I love to pull a tag from one of our Church Giving Trees and to purchase what a particular child has requested, to the best of my ability. I know a hug and a turkey should be enough but that doll, or gift hoped for certainly reminds a homeless or abused or otherwise needy child that someone cares. Thanks again for getting me in the mood.