On the second day of Blogmas my true love gave to me… 2 Worthy Charities!

Yes. Today I want to share with you about 2 worthy charities. Both of which I have had personal experiences with.

The first one is A Safe Place 

A Safe Place is a shelter for abused women and their children. “In 1981, a group of concerned citizen from Sherwood Park, Fort Saskatchewan, and rural areas of Strathcona County met to asses the issue of family violence. They found that it was indeed a challenge in the community. In May of 1982, steps were taken to develop an organization to meet this need and a Board of Directors was elected. On July 19th of that same year (1982) the Strathcona Shelter Society Ltd. was incorporated as a non profit charitable organization. Two years later, in July 1984, the society opened the doors of A Safe Place, a shelter for abused women and their children. Safe-talk was a program of A Safe Place, which provided support for victims of sexual assault. As the need increased that program became an organization in its own.  Today this organization is Saffron, and it provides services to victims of sexual abuse. A Safe Place expanded its services to include community outreach, Elder abuse line and services for Victims of Human Trafficking. Over the years A Safe Place has accommodated over 17,000 women and children.”

• The Tree of Hope: The Sherwood Park Mall sponsors this event over the Christmas season. With any donation amount, a decoration is hung on the Tree of Hope, symbolizing community support for abused women and their children. 

A Safe Place also gives women and their children Christmas gifts from amazing donators! Please consider donating to A Safe Place.

The second is Samaritan’s Purse Shoebox

You may have already heard of packing shoeboxes from your children’s school. When I was in elementary we also packed shoesboxes. These shoeboxes do change lives! “From children to seniors, people pack shoebox gifts each year to bless children in need around the world.  Parents often use the project to teach their kids about giving.” “Samaritan’s Purse is a Christian organization that takes its name from Jesus Christ’s story in the Bible of the Good Samaritan. In Luke 10, Jesus tells of a man from Samaria who finds a traveler robbed and beaten at the side of the road, in desperate need of help.

Although the traveler was a complete stranger, the Samaritan bandages him, carries him to a local inn, spends a night caring for him, and then takes coins from his purse and pays the innkeeper to continue caring for him. The Samaritan also promises to come back and pay the innkeeper even more, if that is what is necessary to restore the traveler to full health.

Like that Good Samaritan, Samaritan’s Purse provides aid to hurting people-victims of war, disease, disaster, poverty, famine, and persecution. We do it regardless of their religious faith, race, gender, or socio-economic standing. We usually partner with local churches, just as the Good Samaritan partnered with the innkeeper. And we continue to nurture that partnership, and monitor the effectiveness of our work, just as the Samaritan arranged with the innkeeper.”

My sister had an opportunity to sort through and prepare these Christmas shoe boxes in Calgary this year. Not only is it life changing for the child who receives the gift but also for those volunteers preparing the boxes. Great work team!!

There are many amazing charities who do much at this time of year. Want to share your story? Post it in the comments below – we’d love to hear about it!