From the Kids LAKE site:

Kids LAKE is a campaign to help kids all “pitch in” to make a difference in our world! The challenge for kids is to raise, earn or save money every month to be able to send to kids around the world so they may know God’s Love. Every month, we’ll feature a different organization that we’ll be raising money for. This way, kids can not only make a difference through their donations, but also through their prayers! Every month we’ll give you lots of details and stories of the country, kids and organization we are raising money for so you can use it as an educational tool!

Blog Action Day is a collaborative effort of bloggers all over the world to raise awareness about issues and provide ideas for taking action. This year’s topic is Poverty. I primarily blog about motherhood and learning, so my focus for Blog Action Day will be ways that parents can teach their children about caring for the poor and how they can serve others together as a family.

Reading and discussing books with children is a wonderful way to teach and inspire them! Consider reading these stories about those living in poverty and talk with your kids about the themes they address like compassion, generosity, and the power of giving.

Candace Fleming’s Boxes for Katje is based on an experience the author’s mother had following World War II when she sent toothpaste, a pair of socks, a bar of soap, and a note of good wishes to Europe. An American girl named Rosie who lives in Mayfield, Indiana, sends a box to Katje, a girl who lives in war-torn, poverty-stricken Olst, Holland.

Mary and Rich Chamberlin’s Mama Panya’s Pancakes: A Village Tale from Kenya tells the story of a boy who has very little himself but has a generous, caring heart for others in his Kenyan village.

Patricia Polacco’s An Orange for Frankie is a nice selection to read at Christmas time and centers on a family that feeds the hungry during the Great Depression and a young boy who gives away one of his gifts to help someone less fortunate. Other holiday titles with similar themes are Kathleen Bostrom’s Josie’s Gift and Kate DiCamillo’s Great Joy.

Ginger Howard’s A Basket of Bangles: How a Business Begins is a story about five poor women in Bangladesh who join together to get and pay back a loan and encourage one another as they start and grow their own small businesses. The book is based on the microlending efforts of the Grameen Bank, a microfinance bank and community development organization that was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 with its founder, Muhammad Yunus.

Heifer International aims to help end world hunger and poverty through self-reliance and sustainability. Several children’s books about Heifer’s mission include Page McBrier’s Beatrice’s Goat, The Chicken and the Worm, Winter in Songming, and the upcoming release, Once There Was and Was Not: A Modern Day Folk Tale from Armenia. You can find related lesson plans for these books and other educational materials for use at home and or in your child’s classroom here. Heifer’s educational resources “introduce students to the issues of hunger, poverty and environmental sustainability while satisfying educators’ need for quality supplemental materials. The material consists of lesson plans, activities (for inside and outside the classroom), stories, video documentaries and more.”

Here are a few of the many ways kids and families can take action and fight poverty together:

• Choose holiday gifts from the catalogs of organizations that work to alleviate poverty such as World Vision, Food for the Poor, Heifer International, and Samaritan’s Purse.
• Fill a shoebox with small gifts for a child in need through Operation Christmas Child.
• Serve at a local homeless shelter, food pantry, or soup kitchen with your kids.
• Sponsor a hungry child through Food for the Hungry, World Vision, Compassion International or another organization of your choice.
• Feed an orphan for a month for only $5 through Children’s HopeChest.
• See The Family Quilt for other small steps you can take to help the poor, care for those in need, and plant the seeds of compassion and mercy in your children.
• Share your ideas in the comments!

If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. [John 3:17-18 (NIV)]

I assured the children that I am NOT giving up on this. We have the ability to be a blessing to others, and an opportunity to learn to serve. Somehow, we’re going to figure this thing out. What I’m telling myself is that if I stick with it, it will get easier, and the lessons and habits learned will be well worth the struggles.

We’re trying to show our kids a picture of hope, not despair. It’s lesson after lesson crafted to be inspiring, not devastating.

Samaritan’s Purse also has a catalog of alternative gift giving ideas. Kids can give hot meals, blankets, story books, and other items to needy children all over the world.

There are six shops that kids can browse through when making their giving decisions:

Environmental Protection
Peace & Justice
Kids in Need
Disease Prevention & Healthcare
Poverty & Hunger
Animal Protection

You can find the complete list of organizations supported by Markmakers here.

(HT to GoodyBlog)

Suzanne passed along this idea for a service project for families with children age 13 and over. Processing Center volunteers will be needed for the upcoming Operation Christmas Child to inspect the shoe box gifts and prepare them for shipment overseas. Processing Centers are in Atlanta, GA; Boone, NC; Charlotte, NC; and Denver, CO.

Registration began August 1. To learn more about Operation Christmas Child, which I’ll be talking more about closer to the holidays, visit the web site. For more information about volunteering with Operation Christmas Child in your area, go here.

• Visit a retirement home. Help the residents make a craft, read to them, sing for them, play an instrument, play a game, or just sit and chat with them. Contact the nursing home’s activity director or another staff member to ask what other activities you could help with and whether it’s OK to bring craft items or baked goods with you.

• Make cookies or a care package for an elderly neighbor who lives alone, or invite him or her over for dinner.

• Grab some trash bags and gloves and clean up a park, vacant lot, or nature area.

• Contact your local food bank and find out if they need help sorting food, packing boxes, or distributing food.

• Sign up with Meals on Wheels.

• Make simple care packages containing soap, a toothbrush, and other items and hand them out to homeless people.

• Volunteer at a soup kitchen. If there are age restrictions for working in the kitchen, see if the kids can help in the dining area by serving drinks or helping clear tables.

What projects do you like to do as a family? Please share your other ideas in the comments!