Gift Your Time

Give the gift of your time to someone who needs it this holiday season. It can be the best gift – one that is appreciated the most. Many people are much more lonely, isolated or disconnected than we realize. And we are often too busy to get together with a friend, help a family member, visit a neighbor or pause to chat with a stranger.

IDEAS FOR GIVING TIME

• Give a family member or friend
• a gift certificate for 2 hours of your time to be spent in whatever way they would like – going for a hike, cooking a meal, playing their favorite game, helping clean their garage…
• Ask to hear an elderly neighbor’s stories.
• Text or call the cousin you’ve lost touch with.
• Stop by and chat with someone at work who has seemed a bit sad lately.
• Invite someone new to your home for dinner.
• Plan a phone date with an old friend who lives out of town.
• Volunteer – it could be regularly, like at a soup kitchen, or for special events like a beach clean up.
• Share something you enjoy – play music or go to a concert together, teach someone to knit, go for a bike ride with a friend…
• Plan a neighborhood block party.
• Make handmade cards with your child and send to family members or friends for the holidays or just because you’re thinking of them.
• Give compliments.
• Give smiles. Warm, approachable, genuine smiles.
• Give your full attention – put down the phone and take a break from text messages and social media.
• Make it a habit. Reach out to someone every day.

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