Spread the Joy: Advent 2025: Day 25

We made it to another Christmas. I'm rather sad to see this one come. It seemed to have happened way too fast this year and I am just not ready to let it go. 

To me, Christmas is about the birth of a child. It's meant to honor the birth of Jesus Christ. Yes, I know that he probably was born during the summer. Yes, I also know that various churches adapted secular holidays and traditions to fit with the narrative of the nativity. But it doesn't stop me from believing. 

For my final charity spotlight, I am going local, and possibly a bit controversial. Pregnancy Support Services (PSS) in the Chapel Hill/Durham area offers free, confidential support including pregnancy testing, limited ultrasounds, and material assistance like baby supplies, alongside parenting education and emotional support for those facing unplanned pregnancies. They provide a safe, judgment-free environment with medical and emotional support, and connect clients with local resources for housing, food, and employment. PSS is a Christian nonprofit that also offers post-abortion care and services for men. 

They do a special fundraiser called a Baby Bottle Blessings. In it, supporters raise money by filling a baby bottle with loose change. My family have supported this cause for many years. Even before I met my wife and this is our 27th Christmas together. 

PSS has been around since 1982. A group of believing doctors and nurses felt that there was a need for an alternative to Planned Parenthood and that no woman should have to face pregnancy alone and without support. I've never felt that they condemn their potential patients. Instead, they offer struggling mothers-to-be and their families hope for bringing in the next generation of children into a fallen world. With Christmas being about the birth of a child, how else best to celebrate this by ending this year's Advent supporting a charity built around the birth of children in a way practiced with care and compassion by that very child who's birth made this holiday at all possible over 2 millennia ago. 

If you have felt led to support PSS, please donate here!

Spread the Joy: Advent 2025: Day 24

It's Christmas Eve! The most magical night of the entire holiday season. Why? Because it's the night Santa comes to most, but not all, of the children of the world. That being said, it's too late to support the charitable cause that I selected for today. However, after I discuss it, hopefully it will encourage some of you give it some love and attention next year.

Operation Santa is run by the United States Postal Service. For over a century, the USPS has worked with Santa Claus to help the Jolly Old Elf make it a merry Christmas for children in need all over the United States. 

Here's how it works:

• Kids write to Santa Claus with their wishlist.
• Santa posts the letters online where families can select one and help Santa make their wishes come true.
• Once gifts are purchased, wrapped and shipped, a letter goes to the children from Santa thanking them for their letter and answering any questions the child might have for St. Nick.

You can adopt just one child or an entire family. The choice is yours. It's also up to you if you want to buy everything on the child's list or maybe your budget is a little bit tighter and you need to pick in choose. But if you customize, please try to get things that the child might actually enjoy. If they ask for a Batman Batcave playset that costs $100 and all you can afford is $35, don't buy them Avengers toys. At least get them something Batman related. An action figure of the Dark Knight and his main for the Joker can go a long way for a needy child.

The deadline for this year's Operation Santa has passed. Yet it's not too late to plan ahead for next year! Be sure to check it out and bookmark it here. It'll be another holiday season before you know it.

Spread the Joy: Advent 2025: Day 23

The holidays are tough. There's the stress of making it the perfect Christmas, either for yourself or a loved one. Maybe it's the last one you will spend with a loved one. Maybe it's the first one without that special someone. Maybe concerns about your health might mean this is your last Christmas season. Perhaps you lost your job, your passion or a beloved furry member of the family. 

Regardless of what may be keeping this from being a Merry Christmas, it doesn't hurt having someone to talk to. 

I was going to talk about suicide rates and the holidays. But upon doing some research, I discovered that it is actually a myth that suicides rise during the holidays. Apparently, the peak season is Spring! 

But if you are feeling hopeless and believe that death is the best option, regardless of the time of year, it doesn't hurt having someone to talk to. 

That is why for today's featured charitable cause, I have selected 988, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. 

I've never used the service personally. But I had a best friend who I wish had. I miss Todd, a lot.

If you are in need of mental health, support or just a friendly voice of guidance, please call 988. You can also text, chat or if hard of hearing, reach a trained volunteer here.

Maintaining such an national service is not cheap. Phone bills, web maintenance, and training of volunteers takes resources. Along with time, patience and compassion, it also takes money. If donating to 988 is an important cause to you, please click here.

Spread the Joy: Advent 2025: Day 22

On today's date in 1808, Beethoven debuts his Fifth Symphony to a crowd of patrons in Vienna. I'm really glad that there was another key date in music history falling on a date in my Advent. I had planned on covering today's important music charity a few days ago, when my students alerted me to a cause that was important to them. Hey, better late than never, right?

The charity I have chosen for today is the Save the Music Foundation. I'm not musically inclined. My artistry is in other things like culinary and crafts. As much as I love music, I just can't make the notes on paper come alive. However, that doesn't mean that I don't see the value in music programs in elementary, middle and high schools.

So why are music programs important? Along with boosting confidence and self expression in children, studies have shown that kids who play an instrument do better in science, math and enhance their cognitive function which in return, helps boost testing scores. With this information, why in the world do state and federal governments want to shut down school music programs???

The Save the Music Foundation was founded in 1997. VH1 executive John Sykes started the charity after he acted as a principal for a day at a public school in Brooklyn. During his tenure, Sykes noticed that the school's music program was in disrepair and in danger of being scuttled. Inspired to save the program, he worked to found VH1's Save the Music. In 2019, the organization rebranded, dropping the sponsorship name in order to become a separate entity. Since its founding, the Foundation has raised over $75 million dollars, purchasing technology, equipment and qualified teachers for almost 2000 schools nationwide and Puerto Rico. The majority of the funds come of grants. Countless millions of children have benefited exponentially thanks to the protection of school music programs.

If helping a child develop social and school skills through a love of melodious sounds is music to your ears, then please donate to the Save the Music Foundation here.

Spread the Joy: Advent 2025: Day 21

It's the Winter solstice! The longest night of the year has had an impact in the cultural formation of countless civilizations as well as their holiday/wintertime traditions. Many of the Native American tribes would use the Winter solstice as a time of reflection, fasting and prayer. They saw this time of year as just a curve for the yearly cycle of the seasons. Things would start to look more prosperous from this moment on!

That is why I have chosen to focus on a cause that needs to become a reversal trend for the indigenous people of North America. For women and children, especially girls, of the Native American tribes, they have become targets for sex trafficking, kidnapping and forced labor. In 2023, 293 indigenous children were reported missing or kidnapped. That number is actually thought to be much higher due to under-reporting because of fear and intimidation. A recent student concluded that roughly 8 in 10 Native American women had been sexually assaulted or raped. This is considered 9 times higher than the national average! Again, it's also believed to be higher due to a lack of reporting from the victims. In Albuquerque, it is believed that 85% of all women murdered in that metropolitan area are Native and indigenous people. That number could be even higher as well.

So why such large numbers and why are so many crimes against indigenous women and children being under reported? Aside from the intimation and fear??

For one thing, the issue of jurisdiction is muddied. Tribes and reservations have separate law enforcement agencies apart from state and federal agencies. There is a lot of confusion. There are some things that the FBI could assist with but law enforcement might not know that they can. Or a victim or their family might go to a local police department and be told that it's out of their jurisdiction. After being turned away too many times, hope is lost and the offense goes unreported. Plus tribal law enforcement is so understaffed, as earnest as they are, there just isn't enough manpower to devote to each crime.

Criminals and predators know that the odds are in their favor in not being caught. They understand all about the boundaries of jurisdiction and the lack of manpower. So they continue to target native and indigenous women and children. That's where today's featured charity comes in...

The National Indigenous Women's Resource Center seeks to advocate and educate about the epidemic of missing, endangered and murdered Native American women and children. They provide resources for families that are in need of help finding missing family members, as well as provide legal assistance. A grassroots advocacy program, the NIWRC is operated by various tribal members. They are a part of the Domestic Violence Resource Network and have successfully lobbied for female tribal members to be covered under extensive domestic violence protection bills passed by the United States Congress in the past few years. A brilliant effort to eliminate those jurisdiction overlaps! Another important effort of the NIWRC is the operation of a safe house for battered indigenous women and their children. 

If supporting the safety and protection of Native women and girls is a cause that speaks to you, I encourage you to donate to the NIWRC here. And if you are a person experiencing any sort of abuse from a partner or spouse, please seek help. 

Resources for the National Sexual Assault Hotline are: 

Phone: 1-800-656-4673

Or you can email or chat through the website RAINN.org.

Spread the Joy: Advent 2025: Day 20

My bride is back again to talk with you about another amazing charity. This one is really personal for both her and myself. Here's Jan to explain the importance of Autism Speaks...

For about 40 years, I have had a passion for learning about and supporting those with autism.  My summer job was a camp counselor with 5-10 year olds with special needs, many of whom had autism.  And my first professional job as a social worker was a residential facility for people with profound disabilities, again many of whom had autism.  Over time, the autism thread wove through other aspects of my life, and today, many of my favorite people are autistic, including my godson and some special friends from church.  So Autism Speaks is a cause near and dear to my heart.

Their mission:

Autism Speaks is dedicated to creating an inclusive world for all individuals with autism throughout their lifespan. We do this through advocacy, services, supports, research and innovation, and advances in care for autistic individuals and their families.

• Ensure access to reliable information and services across the lifespan
• Support research and innovation that drives towards improved quality of life and well-being for individuals with autism throughout their lives
• Leverage our assets through advocacy, partnerships and collaboration to support, extend and convene the work of service providers
• Accelerate delivery of solutions for adult quality of life needs, including transition, employment, housing and health and wellness
• Live and promote principles of diversity, equity, access and inclusion both in and outside of the organization

With an estimated 1 out of 31 children being diagnosed with autism, chances are you know someone who is autistic, someone who loves someone with autism or have autism yourself.  Autistic individuals are just that-individuals, each bringing their own light to the world.  Unfortunately, the world is often not very autism-friendly.  Autism Speaks works every day to change that.  

If you can envision a world where all people with autism can reach their full potential, then please donate to Autism Speaks here.

Spread the Joy: Advent 2025: Day 19

I write my Advent posts several days in advance. Did you really think that I'm up pass midnight waiting until the exact minute of the day to post these with the corresponding date? 

I had a charity in mind for today when I was at work at saw that some of the students at the school I teach at were working to raise money for a cause. Inspired by their enthusiasm, I decided to research the charity. I wasn't previously aware of them, so I wanted to make sure that it was appropriate for my blog. Well, I did and it is.

The charity is called Undue Medical Debt. Now I know that my wife posted earlier in this Advent about a medical related charity. That one covers medicines and is contained to just the patients who call North Carolina home. Undue, as my kids call it, helps anyone who qualifies for assistance throughout the entire United States. 

I don't think anyone can deny that our nation's medical costs are insane. Not just are they expensive, they're MENSA level difficult to understand. I pay a co-pay and a deductible which my insurance does a great job keeping up with. Yet for some reason, probably greed, the hospital and general practitioner offices will try to get me to pay more than those costs my insurance claim that I owe. Thankfully, my wife has a better understanding of this because of her job in medical care, because I sure as heck can't. And honestly, it should be illegal for hospitals to charge you more after your insurance has paid your bill. 

Don't think that I am on the insurances side. It should also be against the law to deny someone coverage because of an unexpected emergency or the patient gets bad advice from the doctor. Last year, I passed out from a stomach virus and had a really fast heartbeat. I was advised to stay overnight and have my heart monitored. Freaking out, my wife and I agreed for the stay, even though I really wanted to go home. Needless to say my insurance is refusing to cover that part of my emergency. And yes, I am fighting it!

Unfortunately, Undue is unable to just erase an individual person's medical debt. Instead, they act like a debt collector in reverse. With funds raised, Undue contacts hospitals and medical care centers who are willing to sell off their debt portfolios. For every $1 the charity raises, they manage to have $100 of a patient's medical debt erased.  

An area DJ was the recipient of this kind of relief. He likened it to winning the lottery as he wasn't expecting it. I consider it a miracle blessing. 

Undue Medical Debt was founded in 2014, under the original moniker RIP Medical Debt. As of September of this year, the charity has reported the elimination of Nearly $23 billion for almost 15 million people. 

Look, you might not have any medical debt. If that's the case, you've been extremely lucky. But it's a very real possibility that something could happen to any of us unexpectedly, at any moment. Before you know it, you may need help with an unnecessary medical bill. Why not pass it forward this holiday season and donate to the cause today? 

Spread the Joy Advent 2025, Day 18

Today's charity is one that I became aware of thanks to my goats. Well, the farm in which my goats are housed actually. It's called Ornaments 4 Orphans. For Christmas, the gift shop at Spring Haven Farm are selling felt ornaments of chickens, pigs, doggies and of course, goats. They are a part of O4O's Nepal collection.

Ornaments 4 Orphans 'collaborate with global artisans to create jobs, fight poverty, strengthen families, empower communities, and ultimately prevent vulnerable children from becoming orphans.'

You can also purchase ornaments made in Uganda, Peru and Kenya. The ornaments reflect the art and culture of the region in which they are made; along with the animals. For example, the Kenya collection contains ornaments depicting elephants whereas the Peru selection contains a llama decoration for your tree. 

Don't need any more ornaments for your tree, O4O also sells hand crafted bookmarks, key chains and nativity scenes that reflect the rich artistry of the country in which they are made. 

As they support fair trade and wages, it's important to note that this is a for-profit organization. However, the profits are used to buy more supplies, educate, train and empower families and to help keep orphaned children in their communities and with extended families. 

And yes, I did post a link to Spring Haven Farm in this post even though they are not a charity. My goats are my babies and I support and volunteer there like a parent might support their human child's PTA. Plus, the farm has taken in injured, abandoned and elderly animals, like everyone's favorite, Annie Donk(ey). So if their supporting a charity, I will support it as well. 

If Ornaments 4 Orphans sounds like the answer to your Christmas shopping list dilemmas, check out their website and store here...

Spread the Joy: Advent 2025: Day 17

On this date in history in 1903, brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright took their epic first flight on the sand dunes of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Orville won the coin toss and got to fly first. He was in the air a whole 12 seconds, going a molasses quick 10 feet per second. With some tinkering, the brothers completed 3 more test flights with Wilbur's last flight staying in the air nearly a full minute and having traveled 852 feet 

So, in honor of this occasion, the time seems right to focus on a STEM charity. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. The culinary arts courses I teach are considered a part of this branch of education as there is a number of scientific and mathematical elements used in the field. But I have already devoted some of my Advent to food, nutrition and agriculture. So let's look at computer engineering. In particular, coding and the need for more females in the industry. 

There are probably 3, maybe 4 women in the field of computer engineering and design that I can name off the top of my head. Ada Lovelace, who's considered the first computer programmer of them all because of the algorithms she developed for Charles Babbage's 'analytical engine', a sort of early calculator. There's actress Hedy Lamarr, whose invention of frequency hopping technology is the precursor to Wi-Fi. There's the 'Hidden Figures', the group of black female engineers who worked at NASA. Although I must admit, the only one of the group that I remember by name is Katherine Johnson. 

And like I said, that is about all I can list. 

So for today's featured charity, I selected Girls Who Code. It was founded in 2012 by Reshma Saujani, a lawyer and Politician that noticed a lack of women in the field of science; In particular, computers and electronics. Noticing a lack of women in the field, Saujani did some research and found that while in the early 90s about 30% of computer engineers were female, that number was declining. By 2024, that number has dropped to less than 1 in 4 in the computer tech industry being women. 

Girls Who Code or GWC seeks to reverse this trend. GWC teaches computer science to eligible students in grades 3-12 through free afterschool clubs, summer immersion programs and training and support for students who continue to earn computer science degrees in college. Mentors who run programs for work prep such as mock interviews, can join the CWC Leadership Academy to learn leadership skills in training the next generation of female coders.

If supporting STEM and STEAM education in our schools is of importance to you, check out their donations page here. Along with a general fund donation, you can sponsor a a student for a year's worth of afterschool coding experience, fund a new club from the ground up or gift students the tools and technology needed for computer and Internet access.

Spread the Joy: Advent 2025: Day 16

16 years ago today, the James Cameron film Avatar debuted in theaters. While I have never seen any of the films in the series, I know that they carry with them an ecological message. I had been planning on focusing on a charity that supports the sustainability of our food supply and the effects on our ecosystem, so with today's date in history, I figured today is as good as any in my charitable giving themed Advent.

For today's Advent, I have selected the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation or ISSF for short. As someone employed in the culinary industry, being able to continually grow food is vital. The harder the item to come by, the more expensive it will cost. The more expensive our food becomes, the less customers will come to eat at your establishment and soon you find your restaurant closed. So a regenerative food supply is good for the human race and good for our planet as it promotes the health of the food chain.

The ISSF was founded in 2009 by a group of scientists, fisheries and other conservation organizations to 'undertake science-based initiatives for the long-term conservation and sustainable use of tuna stocks.' Thanks to the ISSF, a number of innovations have been made in reducing 'bycatch', a term for other fish and sea life that get caught in traps and nets used for the harvesting of specific seafood. They've helped replenish the bigeye tuna from an over-fished state and they've helped to establish catching limits based on scientific data and observations from fisherman to prevent over-fishing of other variety of tuna. The ISSF has also helped fisheries to commit to the banning of 'shark-finning'; the wasteful practice of cutting off a shark's fins for a God awful tasting soup and discarding the rest of the shark, where in having lost its ability to swim properly, sink to the ocean floor and die a slow death. 

The ISSF has a long way to go. The Asian market relies heavily on both tuna and shark fin for both local and  international sales and consumption. Japan refuses consistently to adhere to internationally agreement fishing limits on tuna because of the high demand of sushi and sashimi grade tuna. Current market rate for bluefin tuna, which is dangerously close to being listed as endangered, is around ¥17,000-20,000 ($244-$488) per kilogram!

The thing to consider is that once the bluefin supply is nearly exhausted, those fisheries that rely on tuna for sushi/sashimi grade sale are going to go after the yellow fin and other more plentiful varieties of tuna and the cycle will continue over and over and over until the ocean is just one big empty body of salt water.

If the food supply of our world's oceans and the sustainability of it's occupants are a top priority- nay, a concern!- of yours then I encourage you to donate to the ISSF here!

Spread the Joy: Advent 2025 Day 15

Today I want to talk about one of my favorite stores. It's one of my bride's favorite too. Its called Bull City Fair Trade. Based in Durham, NC, Bull City Fair Trade offers an amazing selection of clothes, books, treats, jewelry and much, much more. It's a fantastic, no, make that magical place, during the holidays with their beautiful inventory of ornaments, nativity scenes and Christmasy treats. 

Now you might be asking yourself 'Why in the middle of an Advent about charitable giving are you advertising for a small business in the middle of the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill triangle?' The answer: it is because every item sold in the store either supports fair trade and fair wages for the craftsmen who manufacturer these beautiful items or the items are produced by charitable organizations trying to empower the disenfranchised, incarcerated and formerly enslaved.

For example, one company trains women who were once sold in sex trafficking to become seamstresses. They make these awesome purses out of used rice sacks. Another company works with former convicts on parole to become skilled in trades and agriculture, while paying them a wage that is much more fair than what they are forced to earn in prisons. It's a little known fact that some prisons around the world get lucrative contracts outsourced from major American companies and they force the prisoners to make shoes, clothes and more for little to no income. It is all slave labor!

Bull City Fair Trade also carries local products made by Durham area charities that employ those who are homeless, food insecure or with disabilities. My family makes it a point to visit Bull City annually and take care of a large chunk of our Christmas shopping there. In fact, it's almost time for another trip.

In the previous days of this Advent, I have shared links where you can make donations. Today, I am sharing the link to BCFT's online store. Please check it out. Read about some of the charitable organizations that create these incredible items. Then make it a Merry Christmas for all by getting someone or EVERYONE off of your holiday shopping list!

Spread the Joy: Advent 2025: Day 14

Tonight marks the first night of Hanukkah. With my wife being of Jewish heritage, I traditionally honor her with one day of my annual Advent being devoted to my bride and her tribe. But since I am focusing on charities this year with her help, I decided to honor someone from my childhood who made me interested in Jewish culture and prompted me to make marrying a Jewish woman one of my martial goals! That person would be Dr. Burton Horwitz, D.D.S. 

Now growing up, I wasn't a fan of the dentist. My mother took some bad advice and didn't have me going for regular checkups until I was maybe 3 or 4. As a result, my mouth was lousy with cavities. I hated the adolescent torture device known as a 'raincoat', which was these rubber stoppers that got wedges into your jaw to keep your mouth open during a procedure. To this day, if I have to have a filling or more than likely a cracked tooth fixed, I tell my dentist: 'NO RAINCOAT!' and I'm almost 50.

Dr. Horwitz is an active member of the Jewish community in Raleigh, North Carolina. He's been on TV annually for I don't know how many years lighting a giant community menorah and bringing awareness of pro-semitism! He has been a faculty member of the UNC School of Dentistry for decades and was awarded the Order of the Long-leaf Pine for his years of dedication and service to the community. (Plus, his brother used to own this amazing deli with the best Reuben on Earth!) But what many probably don't know about Dr. Horwitz is the amount of pro bono dentistry work he has provided for area children and kids around the world. 

For some reason, all dentists are off on Friday. It's a mystery that probably will never be solved, up there with the disappearance of Amelia Earhart and if Bigfoot is real. Dr. Horwitz didn't spend his Fridays off playing golf. Instead, he would spend his Sabbath eve mornings running free clinics for poor and uninsured children in the Wake County area. He's also traveled to London, Ukraine and Africa to run free clinics for children in desperate need of dental health and education. 

So in honor of Dr. Horwitz, I am selecting the Smiles for Life Foundation. Since 1998, they have raised nearly $60 million dollars. With those funds, the have provided dental health care and accessories, like toothbrushes and toothpaste to patients both young and old. One of their main focuses is on those with developmental disabilities, as they suffer disproportionately from poor dental health than those of all economic groups. 

March begins a global springtime initiative every year for Smiles for Life. With the deadline looming, there's a trio of options for you to consider:

1. Find a participating area dentist office and donate to their clinic efforts.

2. If you are a dentist or work at  for a dentist orthodontist, join the Smiles for Life Network and host a clinic for those in need.

3. Become a corporate sponsor. Come on, you CEOs and business owners, we know you've got some tax exempt funds lying around somewhere!!!

For more information about these options, click here and then scroll downward.

Spread the Joy: Advent 2025: Day 13

No Farms. No Food. 

There's pretty much no way to get around it. We need food in order for everything to survive. Automation has done wonders to make it to where we don't need as many farmers as we use to have. And yet, we still need human beings to grow our food, raise livestock and maintain a food supply for the next generation. 

Smaller farms are losing a lop-sided battle against larger, corporate farms. They cannot compete paying living wages to workers when a larger corporation can afford robots, artificial intelligence and automation to offset the need for human workers. I'm not saying that a corporate farm is all bad. Some entrepreneurs do merge a mix of technology with the human equation in order to do the most good helping people find and maintain employment while producing enormous amounts of food. However, such companies are the exception; not the norm.

Every nation on the world is essentially 1 horrible harvest season away from a global food crisis. And I'm not just talking about famine and drought. That's not liberal fear mongering because we came really close to such levels of hunger with the pandemic. While food was plentiful, getting it into the hands of the population was severely disrupted. Some argue that 2020 was proof for more automation. But what are we going to do when there's no more jobs because we lost them to a machine?

These kind of questions are not new. Voices have been expressing fear in loss of employment ever since Jethro Tull and John Deere introduced their first plows for sale. By the mid-1980s, farmers were losing their homes and livelihoods are an accelerated rate that musicians John Cougar Mellencamp and Willie Nelson took inspiration from Live Aid just a few months earlier and put on a massive concert in America's heartland called Farm Aid to assist farmers who were facing losing their homes to foreclosure or corporate giants. 

According to Willie Nelson, he thought that one concert would be enough to solve the problem. Enough money would be raised and not another farmer would ever face economic uncertainty. But the Earth has weather that is constantly changing. Unexpected floods, drought, frost or an massive heatwave could wipe out one farmer's entire crop for a year while down the road, the guy growing broccoli hasn't been affected. As a result, Farm Aid has become an annual event.

Along with raising funds for disaster relief and helping farmers to avoid bankruptcy or worse, the organization runs educational programs to help new farmers create homesteads and alerts to American people to the need for farms. They also have a crack team of lawyers and lobbyists that have helped get vital legislation passed to help the American farmer. 

Now if we could just get legislation passed where instead of paying farmers to not grow food, nor arrange for them to destroy it, and figure out a way to get food to the homeless and needy without jeopardizing competitive wages on the global market. I don't care. Wasted food should never be a thing and a field that was paid for by the government to remain barren is a misuse of resources.

If keeping the American farmer from going extinct is an important cause for you, then check out Farm Aid website and donate here...

Spread the Joy: Advent 2025: Day 12

I selected another more local charity today that even if you are not from North Carolina, you can still donate to. Or, maybe this charity would inspire you to pursue options more local to your state or county.

See, my wife's brother, my brother-in-law, was adopted. With that in mind, and the fact that I don't like to the number 12, here's my bride to talk about her family's experience and how you can get involved.

Take it away Jan...

Spread the Joy: Advent 2025: Day 11

Samaritan's Purse does a lot of charitable programs: disaster relief, training and counseling for veterans and the creation of wells and water purification stations worldwide. But my favorite activity to participate in is their Operation Christmas Program. People fill a show box with essentials like soap, toothpaste and combs along with books, toys and clothes for a child to unwrap on or near Christmas day- regardless if they celebrate the holiday or not. 

In 2024, almost 12 million shoe boxes were distributed around the world. Over 10 million of those care packages came from the United States!

In past years, my wife and I have donated boxes for both a boy and a girl. You can choose ages from infancy all the way to young teen. I try to pick the teens, figuring they don't get that many shoe boxes. While toy weapons are forbidden, I still try to add Star Wars, superheroes and other popular characters with universal appeal. 

I also buy heavy duty tape. That's because I always go overboard and pack my shoe box to the gills. And I fill an adult size 12-13, male shoe box. No puny kids sized boxes from me!

While the 2025 deadline for shoe boxes is gone and passed, you can still order cool stuff for kids and their families around the world like a dairy goat for milk, clean water for the nearby community and cataract surgery. Some of these items can be purchased individually. But there are a few that can be very expensive. So for those needs, you can donate for a fraction of the cost, in a way that potentially 3-4 donors would contribute. The catalog for such donations can be found here...