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When it gets to the height of harvesting time, most gardeners have one common problem – what do you do with the excess crop?
A few suggestions would be that you share your collection with friends, family and neighbours. If you have already exhausted this entire list – then you might want to share with the needy persons in your community.

If you do not know where to look, worry not – there are several resources to look into. First, check with your local church or place of worship, as they might have an active social ministry program that in turn works with agencies who would welcome a donation of food. There are several charities that will gladly accept fresh fruit or vegetables. Apart from these charities, look at local food banks, shelters and perhaps even half-way houses.

The phone book is also an extremely useful resource in this situation. It often lists the community section separately, which then makes your task that much easier.

The internet is another resource you can use to look for ways to share a part of your harvest. Do a quick search under food banks + the name of your town – this should then give you a list of places situated close to you. You could also look at several national agencies which have regional offices. A few examples are America’s Second Harvest Food Bank, Food Research and Action Gropu – these two also
have links to food banks nationwide.

Now, with this information, you have yet another way to share your bountiful harvest with the less fortunate – thus not wasting your efforts and giving you chance to reach out.

The holiday season is a fabulous time to choose to give to the less fortunate. This does not mean that you do not practice the habit of charity during the other times of the year. However, tying it up with the festive season creates a sense of goodwill and also provides the perfect opportunity to teach children the same. Giving to the poor does not mean you only donate money to worthy causes. You can volunteer your time or even shop for special gifts to be placed at a local ‘giving’ tree.

Lenox, The Gift Company, in this same spirit, offers an ornament annually to benefit a children’s charity. Continued for five successful years, Lenox’s Holiday Spirit Ornament programme donates proceeds from the programme to a specially designed ornament like for example, to the Elizabeth Glaser Paediatric AIDS Foundation. “Public-private partnerships are critical in the fight for the health of our children, and we are delighted to be partnering with Lenox,” said Kate Carr, president and chief executive officer of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.

The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation is a leading worldwide non-profit organization dedicated to eradicating paediatric AIDS. The foundation also provides care and treatment to people suffering from HIV and AIDS. They also fund the discovery of new treatments for other serious, life-threatening paediatric illnesses. Peter Cobuzzi, Vice President of Brand Development at Lenox says, “For more than 100 years, Lenox has believed that the act of giving is an integral part of celebrating life and family. That is why we are thrilled to work with a foundation that gives hope to so many.”

Teaching children the value of giving, even during holidays is not the easiest of tasks, especially taking into consideration today’s materialistic culture. Values such as generosity and ‘love thy neighbour’ to be imparted on children can be challenging, also because of the pressure attached to holiday expectations. However, remember, nothing is impossible. Heifer International is one great idea for parents to choose when teaching their children the value of giving and feeling a sense of accomplishment and goodwill from bringing someone else happiness.

For over half a century, Heifer International has, through donations, provided farm animals and training in sustainable agriculture practices to poor families.
Giving by means of money is not something that can easily be grasped by children. However, by gifting an animal – be it a goat, flock of chickens or even honeybees, they might catch on to this good habit.

Charles A. Smith, Professor of child development at the School of Family Studies and Human Services at Kansas State University says, “Kids get pleasure from seeing someone else happy. The act of giving unleashes the idea that a child can touch someone’s life. Heifer International believes that experience empowers children and shows them that they can make a difference in the world.”
Heifer International also lets children help to raise money to buy animals. These options include fun activities like ‘Carol for Cows’ or make and sell cookies or even animal ornaments. Kids can also decorate cans with the Heifer International catalogue pictures which can then be placed at local stores and restaurants to collect money for such causes.

Christmas is the season to be jolly as well as generous. However, the spirit of giving should really last all year round. Here’s a look at a few things our favourite artists do to assist a number of causes.One of the issues that cartoonists focus on is animal rights and animal care. Jenny Campbell, co-creator with John Gibel of Flo and Friends, uses her skills to help the Geauga Humane Society in Cleveland, Ohio. She first started off by volunteering as a dog walker. Now, she donates her artistic talents to the cause. Her drawings are used everywhere, from the sign in front of the building to the t-shirts and hats sold.

The creator of Bloom County and his inimitable characters Opus and Bill, Berkeley Breathed and his wife, photographer Jody Boyton are both strong advocates of PETA and the drive to protect animals from abuse. They are also members of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, a cause to save whales and other sea creatures. While she was pregnant, Jody protested against the cruel use of stalls to hold pregnant mares for months on end – to gather urine which is used to produce the menopausal drug Premarin.
Dale Taylor, cartoonist of Not in My Backyard, uses his main character, Wyman the Weiner Dog to support the Virginia Dachshund Picnic. His designs are featured on fundraiser t-shirts.

Funky Winkerbean creator Tom Batiuk came up with Lisa’s Story after four years of research on breast cancer. The storyline comprises a character who finds a lump in her breast, diagnosis, goes through treatment and recovers.
Others include:

– Charles Schulz, artist of Peanuts – donated millions of dollars to charity. Built an ice arena dubbed ‘Snoopy’s Home Ice’ which, hosts annual figure skating championships, hockey tournaments and even concerts.

– Lynn Johnston, creator, For Better or For Worse – helps the Scleroderma Foundation and the House Rabbit Society for protection of rabbits.

Supporting charities is yet another to show your interest towards the environment, disabled people, the less fortunate and even animals. Numerous animal charities can be found across the world, ranging from care for mistreated domestic animals, endangered animals amongst many others. Your donations are used for food, shelter and medical care for these animals and other various tasks that are necessary to ensure they are cared for by the right people.

Donations can be made to these charities in a number of ways. Most people donate money to animal charities via fundraisers, charity balls, TV advertisements and stickers.It is important that you find out what kind of charity you are donating to, as some are scams that cite cases of suffering animals to rake in the money. You can find out more about charities by speaking to its hosts or even look on the internet. Make sure you do the research so that you can decide for yourself if that is the cause you want to support. Once you’ve made that decision, then decide how much money you would like to donate. It does not have to be a huge sum of money, donate whatever you can afford. Every dollar helps.

Apart from animal charities, there are others that are founded based on the needs of animals – like for example one charity is for animals displaced due to storms. They provide displaced animals with shelter and food.Therefore, when donating to an animal charity, make sure you research it until you feel comfortable about it, then talk to the hosts and get all the necessary information from them. In case you do not have any money to donate, but still want to help, perhaps you could consider donating your time towards the charity.