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Doing Good Together Newsletter )
Helping strengthen kids and communities through family volunteerism... November 2006
in this issue
  • Donate an Easy-To-Make, Fleecy Blanket
  • Help Children Plant Seeds of Gratitude
  • Inspiration
  • One Family's Story
  • News From DGT
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    There’s no better month than November to begin a tradition of family service. Saturday, Nov. 18, is National Family Volunteer Day, a day devoted to encouraging families to reach out. Contact your local volunteer center to learn how you can help. The Thanksgiving holiday is also an ideal time for families to volunteer. Counting our own blessings brings to mind the struggles of others - in our own community and around the globe. Talk about who has made a positive difference in your lives and how you might give others a reason to be thankful, too. Remember, every act of caring counts.

    Happy Thanksgiving!


    Jenny Friedman, Executive Director

    		Donate an Easy-To-Make, Fleecy Blanket
    Binky Patrol

    Make a Difference... Is your family getting together for Thanksgiving? To mix a little goodwill in with the football and turkey, take a couple hours to create a warm, homemade blanket for a child in need of comfort. You don’t need a dose of creative skill to get started. The simple pattern for a no-sew fleece blanket, as well as donation information, is at the Binky Patrol website. Take your child along to buy the polar fleece you’ll need. (Kids will show more interest in the project if they choose the fleece print.) Then gather together grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins to make one blanket - or several.

    Photo: Binky Patrol

    		Help Children Plant Seeds of Gratitude
    Book- Thanksgiving Is For Giving Thanks

    Talk About It ... As your family comes together to make a blanket, start a conversation about gratitude and giving.

    • Ask the children to imagine a blanket or stuffed animal that means a lot to them. Talk about what else makes them feel comforted and safe, and all that they’re grateful for.
    • Explain that there are children who are lonely because their parents are serving overseas, or their home has been damaged so they need to live somewhere else. A new blanket would be a warm and comforting surprise to a child who is feeling sad.
    • Talk about how others helped to make your children feel better when they experienced sad times

    Learn About It ... Help children reflect on what they’re thankful for by reading Margaret Sutherland’s Thanksgiving Is for Giving Thanks. Also, just in time for the elections, we’ve added resources for both kids and adults on politics and government. Check out these and other books to inspire discussions on important issues at the Doing Good Together resource list.

    Photo: Margaret Sutherland’s Thanksgiving Is for Giving Thanks

    		Inspiration

    “The family that perservers in good works will surely have an abundance of blessings.” Chinese proverb

    		One Family's Story
    Feed My Starving Children

    Two hours is how long some of us might spend making a fancy dessert. In that same time -- two hours -- a small group of adults and children filled enough food kits to make 5,000 meals. They were donating their time for Feed My Starving Children, a faith-based nonprofit based in Minnesota. Volunteers stuff packets made up of rice, soy, vitamins and dehydrated vegetables, which are then distributed to starving children worldwide.

    Spending a Saturday morning measuring, pouring, packing and sealing food bags was just the ticket for this handful of families (totaling six adults and six children) from the Church of St. Patrick in Edina, Minn., who did the project as part of the church’s new Family Faith Works program. This speedy crew learned that 40,000 children die each day from lack of nutritious food, and that it costs only 15 cents to feed one child for a whole day.

    Read Full Story

    Photo: Feed My Starving Chlidren

    		News From DGT

    Doing Good Together is partnering with the Church of St. Patrick in Edina, Minn., to establish a new family service program, called Family Faith Works. Their mission is “to build a community which engages families to respond to our gospel call to serve those in need.” Although DGT is non-sectarian, we are excited to offer faith groups the materials, resources and training they need to encourage their families to serve others. If you’d like more information on how we might assist your faith community, please contact us.

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