Maybe most of our kids are a little young for this, but it seems to me that as a group, we might find it rewarding to think of some regular community service project we could do, or charity we could contribute to. Do you have any thoughts on this?

I am new to NM, we moved here from AZ 2 months ago.  I would like to start getting my children involved in some community service type projects. They are young, but what better time to teach them to be thankful for what they have? I don't have any specific ideas of what we should do, other than I think this is a very important thing to start! )

Sarah

I know that St. Martin's Hospitality Center would never turn down baked goods but the place is too rough for children and adults as well which is why so may homeless choose the Bosque...Joy Junction is a shelter for families, children and women and they might have specific need clothing, books, food supplies, etc. Maybe some of the older kids might want to call these places as a sort of service learning project, and then they could decide how they wanted to help....We could give them options to choose from. The children could find out how many people the organization served, etc. United Way is a clearing house of not for profit organizations and they have a web site for Albuquerque. Maybe we could have a mini toy, book drive and donate to Joy Junction as the holidays are approaching and Jack has 8 billion stuffed animals....Or not. I could be completely wrong....

A place where we could help kids woud be great! The MOMS club I'm in helps the Ronald McDonald house down by the UNM hospital. My son seems to "get it" that we're helping make a home away from home for families who have a child in the hoospital.

On  related note, I get scholastic book catalogs (as a homeschool teacher, but the insist on sending 30 copies of each catalog) and my playgroup and I order very cheap kids books from them. I don't get any money from it (like commission), but do accrue bonus points for more books. We now have 1000 pts and are planning to use the points to get 100 free books to donate to R. McD. house. Maybe we could do something similar for Joy Junction.

The Storehouse is located downtown in Albuquerque and they accept many items.  I have connections with a couple of the volunteers there.  We even took a tour of the Storehouse a while back.  They need mostly baby items, like formula, diapers, boys' clothes, etc.  They need a lot of everything though, even paper sacs for the customers to carry their groceries/items home.  I am sure we could get the kids involved in this somehow.  We could all go down there and help clean for a day or take our donations down and then help in other ways too.  They even have a play area for children.  They are always looking for help/volunteers.  It is safe and kid-friendly.
-Julie