How can kids give coins to charity?
My five-year-old son has started regularly collecting coins for charity. I know that coins and charity have been discussed on BPN previously, but all of those discussions centered on places to take coins to redeem them for cash or money orders. My son, being five, is very adamant that he be able to actually feel like he's giving his coins to charity - he needs to feel like he's somehow directly (or as directly as possible) giving his money to someone or an organization in need. What ways have parents dealt with this? I know that sending coins in the mail is not really an option, so what is the next best thing? When he gets older, I'm sure he will be fine with donating online. But for now, collecting coins, putting them in an account, and then clicking some buttons on a computer are just too many steps removed from reality for him. Ideas?
Parent Replies
This time of year--Salvation Army pots!
Maybe save them until holiday time and he can put them in one of those bell ringer buckets. Sounds fun to me!
My son is the same age and loves his coins too! We currently have a Salvation Army set up in front of our local grocery store for the holiday - the type with people ringing a bell and with collection box/bucket out front. My son was able to donate a couple of handfuls worth of coins to the box - dropping them in himself - and the lovely people made a big deal about his donation and he was pretty excited about it. We will probably go back a couple more times before the holidays are over with more coins. Hope this helps!!