The holidays are the time of year that consist of abundances of gifts, surpluses of food and plenty of family time. But, there are others who consider the holidays a time of bitter weather, darker days, and a reduction of food. Giving to charity can change the lives of both the donor and the receiver, especially during this time of year.

According to thelifeyoucansave.org, “even small donations can have a big impact.” Victoria Wolker-Kraljic, recently made sandwiches for the homeless at the Saint Francis house with her family. Then, they drove the sandwiches to their destination together.

Victoria thinks that it is important to start donating at a young age because “it teachers you that some people are less fortunate than us and that we need to help them.”

Victoria is an important example of how most people can’t donate thousands of dollars to discover a revolutionary cure for cancer, but you can still give a homeless person a meal that could prevent him or her from starving.

Furthermore, pursueaction.org claims that, “When a person focuses his or her attention outward and onto someone else, it can help alleviate the personal stress or anxiety that a person may be feeling.”

Chloe Simon agrees that “When you give your time or money, you feel accomplished and feel like you are being productive and doing a good thing.”

Chloe has given her time to donate to the Homeless Coalition in Saint Augustine this holiday season. She claims that the felt proud of herself and her family and like she wanted to do more to help the community.

Therefore, everyone has the power to change a life by donating to charity. By working together, we have already reduced the amount of extreme poverty by 34.7% in 34 years. With extra charity work, one day we could put extreme poverty, and possibly other complications to extinction.

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