30 Days of Giving Challenge

For just about every year since I started blogging I’ve participated in or led a 30 days of giving each November.  I’ve been blogging since 2009 so that’s quite a long time!

The old challenge went something like this:

The challenge is to give something to someone everyday in December.  Giving doesn’t have to be designated to November!  The gifts can be anything given to anyone…money, food, old clothes, crafts, your time, or even kind words.  I would love to have  my readers join me in this challenge.  The way I see it, even if I don’t give something every single day it will probably would still be more than I normally would have given any other month…and that’s worth it, right?

Here are some of the gift ideas I’ve came up with so far:

• –  donate can goods to a local food pantry
• –  donate new toys in your gift drawer or closet to Toys for Tots
• –  make and deliver a meal to a grieving family or a family with a sick loved one
• –  donate a couple of hours of free babysitting for new parents
• –  rake up the leaves in an elderly friend’s house
• –  clean out your closets to donate to GoodWill or the Salvation Army
• –  give few more dollars in the plate at church
• –  prepare a gift for those new to the neighborhood
• –  send a letter and a box of non-perishable goodies to a soldier
• –  have the kids make and mail cards to missionaries (or to vets)

The old challenge had zero accountability and truthfully not many people participated, or if they did they didn’t let me know about it.

The New 30 Days of Giving Challenge!

I want to combine this old challenge with a Live With Less twist!  I want to suggest finding things in our homes that we no longer need or LOVE and give them to someone else.  We can still make meals and cards but it’s my desire for us to find usable things we have just laying around and donate them to those who can make good use of them.  This could be giving an old piece of china to a relative who would enjoy it, passing along a favorite book to a friend, or it could be donating a bag full of items to a charity.  The choice is yours!

By the way, if you’re local to me I know of several families and charities that would love gently used toys and household items.

Giving Challenge Prize!

Wait?  Can you really win a prize from giving away your things?  Yes, you sure can!  I’m going to award one reader a $10 Amazon gift card!  Winner will be drawn randomly from those who have completed the challenge.  Okay, so I know it’s not a HUGE $100 or $300 prize like we’ve had in the past but I’m hoping it will still be enough to motivate you.

Giving Challenge Rules:

• – You must submit your daily entry by posting photos of your items to be given on the wall of our Facebook group – located here.  Post once and continue posting follow up days in the comments of your first post.  If you’d rather set up an album and add your photos to it, that’s great too.  (Side note, if you’re new to Facebook groups and you don’t want to see notifications when everyone posts you can change the settings in the group.  Message me in the group if you need help with this.)
• – If you don’t have Facebook you can also email me the pictures at MrsAshleyWalkup@gmail.com with the subject 30 Days of Giving Challenge.
• – If you know you’re going to have a busy week you can work ahead in the challenge up to five days ahead of time (this is a change from the previous challenge, you can now work further ahead!) and you can be two days late and still be eligible for the prize.
• – We’re going to start the challenge a on Tuesday, Dec. 5th so we can give others a few days to find this challenge and give you who are reading this a head start gathering your unwanted items.  Because we’re starting late you don’t have to give away 30 things, just 1 per day till the end of the challenge.  If you want to do more, by all means please do.
• – This is a question I would ask if I was participating so I’ll ask and answer it in case you’re wondering to.  Do you actually have to donate the item to, say Goodwill, or can you just set it aside in a box in your garage until the end of the month?  The garage is fine!  There’s no need to make a trip daily to take one item some place.
• – What if you have so much extra stuff and you want to
• – Share this with a friend!  It’s easier to stick with it if you have a friend or family member who are joining in too.
• – Last but not least, have fun!!!

In the words of my wise friend Dawn, “This challenge is about being grateful for what you have and blessing others who are less fortunate!”  I couldn’t agree more!

I’m excited to have you join me.   Feel free to start snapping pics, donating, and posting your pics in our group now but our official start date will be Dec. 5th.