Helping the Poor

Why Should We Care About Underprivileged Children?

We should care about these children because they are the future. These children will inherit this world. If we let them grow up like this, there’s only a very slim chance they’ll become productive members of society. On the contrary, they’ll most likely become delinquents and a nuisance to the community. Communities that your children and grandchildren will live in.

Remember that these children didn’t have a normal childhood. Poverty can have a complicated but profound effect on a child. As a result, they often struggle with various mental health issues as adults.

Most of them are not capable of developing healthy relationships or even coping with social norms. This makes them less able to hold a steady job and are likely to turn to a life of crime. It’s no wonder then that many of these children end up in the criminal justice system. If we don’t help them now, there’s a good chance that the generations after them will suffer the same too.

So if you want a better world for your children and grandchildren, you should definitely care about these unfortunate kids.

How Can We Help Them?

Growing up poor deprives a child of a lot of things. This is why if we want to help them, the most important things we can do are to:

Educate Them

As mentioned, underprivileged children often have no access to quality education. I mean, how can they prioritize school if they don’t even know where to get their next meal? Most of them also run away from home or are forced to work at a young age. It’s no wonder then that an estimated 2.1 million students drop out of high school in the US every year.

With no high school diploma, job opportunities will be limited. They usually end up working in low-paying jobs that won’t even pay for rent.

This is why education is the most important thing we can give these kids. If we help them go to school (and stay in school), they have a much better chance at a brighter future.

So how can we go about educating them?

There are a lot of non-profit organizations that work on educating less privileged children. You can support them through donations or volunteer your time.

You can also organize fundraising or a book donation drive. If your time allows, you can even tutor them yourself. Ask your local school boards if they have after-school programs you can participate in. Or if you want to help more children, you can also volunteer for NGOs abroad.

Make Them Feel That Someone Still Cares

As mentioned, most underprivileged kids came from dysfunctional families. This often leaves them with various traumas and mental health issues which molds them into dysfunctional adults.

That’s why for children from underprivileged backgrounds, compassion is essential. If we can help them feel that someone still cares, it will not only ease their suffering. We’ll also be helping them become better and responsible adults who can contribute positively to society.

There are a lot of ways to go about this. You can sponsor a child, either from your local community or through a non-profit organization. Participating in a big-brother, small brother program would be a good idea too. It helps provide unfortunate kids the emotional support most of them badly need. Even just treating them with kindness can go a long way.

Fulfill Their Basic Needs

All of us need food, clothing, and shelter. Unfortunately, not all of us have access to them. This is especially true for kids who came from poor backgrounds.

Food banks, soup kitchens, and other charity organizations around the world have programs especially for kids. You can help them by donating cash, food, and clothing items.

If you want a more localized approach, you can also organize food drives or a fundraising event in your church or community. Donate the proceeds to orphanages, homeless shelters, and struggling families. You can also start a feeding program for kids from public schools in disadvantaged neighborhoods.

These are just some of the things we can do for disadvantaged children. We still have a long way to go to give every child the normal and comfortable childhood they deserve. But if we can give even just one child the chance of a better future, then it’s a step in the right direction.

4. Bikes For Charity

Bikes might be a part of your childhood, but not all children are fortunate enough to own one. Kids in less privileged neighborhoods often have to walk to school, exposed to the elements. This is why some organizations have initiated the Bikes for Charity Campaign.

How It Works:

1. Participants will do challenges from which they will earn the materials necessary for building a bike.
2. Once all the materials are gathered, they will assemble the bikes. They can also put their own “special touch” to it by customizing the accessories.
3. The group with the most creative bike wins. All bikes assembled during this activity will be donated to charities helping kids from low-income families.

5. Snackvenger Hunt

From the popular team building game “Scavenger Hunt,” this activity involves tasks and clues. Each completed task will earn the participants a clue for the next task and snack items. They will then use these to make care packages for homeless and destitute kids.

How It Works:

1. Divide the participants into groups and provide them with the clue to the first task.
2. Once they’ve completed all the tasks and collected all the snack items, each group will then assemble it into kids’ snack packages.
3. The first team to complete all packages wins. These packages can then be donated to charity, or you can join food drives in schools and low-income neighborhoods.

6. The Breakfast Brigade

Breakfast is one of the most important meals of the day. Yet the No Kids Hungry Campaign estimates that around 3 million kids in the US aren’t getting a healthy breakfast at school. This is why The Breakfast Brigade would make a worthwhile team building activity.

How It Works:

1. Divide the participants into teams.
2. Give each team the materials necessary for preparing a healthy breakfast meal. It can be a granola bar or a breakfast sandwich with milk.
3. The teams will race to make the most number of breakfast meals in the time allotted.
4. The team that has produced the most breakfast meals wins. The ideal place to do this would be in a school cafeteria.

Remember, all these ideas for a charity team-building activity are just suggestions. You can always customize these to fit your objectives or just make your own. The most important thing is you have fun while helping others.

1. here will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land. – Deuteronomy 15:11
2. He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. – Micah 6:8
3. Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. – Matthew 25:40
4. Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. – 1 John 4:7
5. And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. – Matthew 22:37-39
6. The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. – 2 Corinthians 9:6-7
7. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. – 1 Corinthians 13:1
8. Anyone who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty. – Job 6:14

6. Repurpose as Picnic Blankets

This is one of the easiest recycling projects you can do with your old sheet. You don’t need to cut or sew or any crafting skills whatsoever. You can just take an old sheet from your storage and use them as picnic blankets. Just make sure they still look fine and don’t have any holes in them.

7. Upcycle Them as Curtains

You probably never thought of turning your old sheet into curtains. Well, this DIY guide will show you how. The best thing is you don’t need sewing skills so you can make them even if you’re not handy with a needle. Plus, they’re an inexpensive way to match your windows with your bedroom decorations.

8. Use Them as a Drop Cloth

Got a messy DIY project? Planning to repaint the room? Your old sheets can make a cheap and excellent drop cloth. If your sheet is on the thin side, don’t forget to put a plastic backing so the paint won’t seep to the floor or carpet.

9. Use as Garden Cover

If you want to keep critters out of your garden or protect your precious plants from marauding animals, using your old sheet as a garden cover is the cheapest way. Check out this quick guide for more ideas on how to do it.

10. Recycle Them Into Bags and Pouches

If you’ve got some decent sewing skills, then turning your old sheet into bags and pouches will be easy. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you out. You can even turn this into a community project to raise funds for charity.

11. Use Them to Make Accessories

From scrunchies to coin purses and belts, there’s just so much you can do with old sheets. If you have a knack for crafts, the sky’s the limit. Though most of these projects only need beginner-level sewing skills. You may not even need a sewing machine, just a simple thread, needle, and a whole lot of creativity.

12. Knot Up a Cloth Dog Toy

Dogs like to chew on almost everything. So to save your furniture and footwear, just knot up a cloth dog toy from your old sheets. Check out this guide if you have no idea how to go about it. It’s very easy and there’ no sewing involved.

13. Make DIY Fabric Gift Wraps

Furoshiki or the art of wrapping gifts with fabric has taken the gift wrapping industry by storm. And why not? It’s not only aesthetically pleasing, but it also reduces paper consumption and the need to cut down trees. But instead of buying expensive fabric gift wraps, just make one yourself using your old sheets. Check out this tutorial for ideas.

Here are 50 empathy quotes that will show you what it really means to empathize:

1. Empathy depends not only on one’s ability to identify someone else’s emotions but also on one’s capacity to put oneself in the other person’s place and to experience an appropriate emotional response. – Charles G. Morris
2. Empathy is a connection; it’s a ladder out of the shame hole. – Brene Brown
3. Empathy is how kind hearts breathe. – Nitya Prakash
4. Money is not the root of all evil. A lack of empathy is. – Cole Todd
5. This capacity for empathy leads to a genuine encounter – we have to progress toward this culture of encounter – in which heart speaks to heart. – Pope Francis
6. You should not judge; you should understand. – Ernest Hemingway
7. If you judge people, you have no time to love them. – Mother Teresa
8. One of the most important aspects of being a human being, is being able to be in a relationship. Being able to successfully form and maintain a relationship. And at the heart of that capability is the capacity to put yourself in somebody else’s shoes, to see the world how they see it. That capacity is empathy. – Bruce Perry
9. Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, when you do criticize him, you’ll be a mile away and have his shoes. – Steve Martin
10. There’s something in everyone only they know. – Ben Harper
11. Never look down on anybody unless you’re helping him up. – Jesse Jackson
12. The state of empathy, or being empathic, is to perceive the internal frame of reference of another with accuracy and with the emotional components and meanings which pertain thereto as if one were the person. – Carl Roger
13. Empathy is forgetting oneself in the joys and sorrows of another, so much so that you actually feel that the joy or sorrow experienced by another is your own joy and sorrow. Empathy involves complete identification with another.  – Dada Vaswani
14. If you find yourself saying ‘But I’m just being honest’, chances are you’ve just been unkind. Honesty doesn’t heal. Empathy does. – Dan Waldschmidt
15. A focus on empathy is just what is needed to make the world a better place for all animals, humans, and nonhuman alike. – Marc Bekoff
16. We must learn to regard people less in the light of what they do or omit to do, and more in the light of what they suffer. – Dietrich Bonhoeffer
17. All men are born firstly with the instinct to protect themselves. But few grow to really love themselves, and even fewer learn to love their neighbor as themselves. – Criss Jami
18. It doesn’t hurt to show some empathy. – John Cornyn
19. If you look into someone’s face long enough, eventually you’re going to feel that you’re looking at yourself. – Paul Auster
20. Empathy is the gateway; compassion is the way. – Scott Perry
21. An exchange of empathy provides an entry point for a lot of people to see what healing feels like. – Tarana Burke
22. Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other’s eye for an instant? – Henry David Thoreau
23. Sometimes all a person wants is an empathetic ear; all he or she needs is to talk it out. Just offering a listening ear and an understanding heart for his or her suffering can be a big comfort. – Roy T. Bennett
24. The greatest cruelty is our casual blindness to the despair of others. – Anonymous
25. Empathy is the greatest virtue. From it, all virtues flow. Without it, all virtues are an act. – Eric Zorn
26. Empathy speaks to us in those silent moments, away from our wounded ego and our wondering heart, in those empty spaces where questions run riot like lost and rejected soldiers… it tells us that each soul is worthy, valued, loved, and honored and we only ever need to face our own shadows, our own pain… and to be our own mirror. – Christine Evangelou
27. I believe empathy is the most essential quality of civilization. – Roger Ebert
28. I always think that if you look at anyone in detail, you will have empathy for them because you recognize them as a human being, no matter what they’ve done. – Andrea Arnold
29. We cannot transform negativity into the positive without empathy, and we cannot truly understand empathy without experiencing it in our present life, in our past, and in our future. – Brian L. Weiss
30. Empathy nurtures wisdom. Apathy cultivates ignorance. – Suzy Kassem
31. Love is about bottomless empathy, born out of the heart’s revelation that another person is every bit as real as you are. – Jonathan Franzen
32. We need to teach our children empathy and care and love and communication and social responsibility in preparation for adulthood. – Maya Soetoro-Ng
33. The greater good is achieved by not only telling people what they need to know but also filling them with a sense of empathy and love. – Abigail Disney
34. Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. – Plato
35. Empathy is about finding echoes of another person in yourself.  – Mohsin Hamid
36. Each person you meet is an aspect of yourself, clamoring for love. – Eric Micha’el Leventhal
37. If bullies actually believe that somebody loves them and believes in them, they will love themselves, they will become better people, and many will even become saviors to the bullied. – Dan Pearce
38. The great gift of human beings is that we have the power of empathy, we can all sense a mysterious connection to each other. – Meryl Streep
39. Empathy begins with understanding life from another person’s perspective. Nobody has an objective experience of reality. It’s all through our own individual prisms. – Sterling K. Brown
40. No one reaches out to you for compassion or empathy so you can teach them how to behave better. They reach out to us because they believe in our capacity to know our darkness well enough to sit in the dark with them. – Brene Brown
41. We need to understand the other side to impact the other side. We become much more effective as humans and leaders when we engage in hearty conversations with those who are different from us, not necessarily to change our opinions, but to build the empathy muscle. – Daniel Lubetzky
42. Empathy requires knowing that you know nothing. – Leslie Jamison
43. Yet, taught by time, my heart has learned to glow for other’s good, and melt at other’s woe. – Homer
44. Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. – Leo Buscaglia
45. Have compassion and empathy in your heart. Many people are suffering deep emotional anguish beneath the surface of their lives, and smile even as they hurt inside. – Jim Palmer
46. If we are to love our neighbors, before doing anything else we must see our neighbors. With our imagination as well as our eyes, that is to say like artists, we must see not just their faces but the life behind and within their faces. – Frederick Buechner
47. One does not remember one’s own pain. It is the suffering of others that undoes us. – Anna Funder
48. You can only understand people if you feel them in yourself. – John Steinbeck
49. One doesn’t have to operate with great malice to do great harm. The absence of empathy and understanding is sufficient. – Charles M. Blow
50. The real test of love is loving those who we feel are the hardest ones to love. – Criss Jami

1. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. – Hebrews 13:16
2. Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed. – Proverbs 19:17
3. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. – 2 Corinthians 9:7
4. Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? – Isaiah 58:7
5. Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. – Matthew 6:2
6. Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. – Luke 12:33
7. In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ – Acts 20:35
8. Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered. – Proverbs 21:13
9. As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” – Luke 21:1-4
10. Let all that you do be done in love. – 1 Corinthians 16:14
11. If you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. – Isaiah 58:10
12. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. – Galatians 6:2
13. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? – 1 John 3:17
14. But give as alms those things that are within, and behold, everything is clean for you.  – Luke 11:41
15. Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor. – Proverbs 22:9
16. Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered. – Proverbs 11:25
17. Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor. – Deuteronomy 15:7-8
18. We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. – Romans 15:1
19. And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ – Matthew 25:40
20. Those who give freely gain even more; others hold back what they owe, becoming even poorer. – Proverbs 11:24
21. No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. – Matthew 6:24
22. Even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. – Matthew 20:28
23. But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous. – Luke 14:13-14
24. Whoever gives to the poor will not want, but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse. – Proverbs 28:27
25. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me. – Matthew 25:35
26. Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” – Matthew 19:21
27. The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these. – Mark 12:31
28. They only asked us to remember the poor—the very thing I also was eager to do. – Galatians 2:10
29. Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. – 2 Corinthians 9:6
30. For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ, we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully. – Romans 12:4-8

4. Nicklaus Children’s Hospital Foundation

The foundation helps children from poor families get world-class pediatric care. Each year, they hold a two-day toy drive which lets you drop off toy donations at their drive-thru booth. But if you miss it, you can also contact them to schedule a drop-off. Your donated toys will surely help ease the children’s burden while they’re battling their illness.

Like most children’s hospital on this list, Nicklaus also accepts only new and unwrapped toys due to the ongoing pandemic.

5. Miami Rescue Mission

Miami Rescue Mission’s outreach centers are known for serving the homeless and the needy. They provide emergency shelter, transitional hosing, computer literacy classes, job training, and employment opportunities for the homeless. They also do an annual toy drive every December for the underprivileged kids in the area.

But in case you missed it, you can still donate used toys. These will be sold in the organization’s thrift stores. The proceeds from which are used to fund their various homeless assistance programs. If you have a large quantity of items to donate, you can also call them to arrange a pick-up.

6. Children’s Home Society of Florida

The organization’s mission is to end foster care by empowering parents and creating strong families so children will grow up in a safe and nurturing environment. Aside from used clothes and laptops, they also accept toys for children of all ages. These will be distributed to children and families who can barely afford these items.

7. Toy Rescue Mission

Toy Rescue Mission specializes in refurbishing and recycling gently used toys. It’s run almost entirely by volunteers who make Easter baskets, holiday gifts, and birthday gifts out of all the donated toys.  The refurbished toys are distributed to disadvantaged children and seniors in in-care facilities. The charity specifically caters to children on state welfare.

Due to the ongoing pandemic, Toys Rescue Mission has temporarily stopped receiving used toys. But their website says they’ll be ready to accept donations again after January 2021.

8. Children in Crisis Florida

By providing emergency shelter to displaced children, the organization hopes to provide a loving home for the abused and neglected children in the community. Aside from emergency shelters, they also have five family foster homes and studio apartments that house young adults who have aged out of the foster care system.

Since their children’s neighborhood caters to children of almost all ages, used toys will be of great help. Aside from helping children cope with their situation, it will also help them get a sense of normalcy and make them forget their troubles – even just for a few moments.

Unfortunately, the ongoing pandemic has raised health and safety concerns for their young residents. So the shelter has temporarily stopped accepting used toy donations. But they’ll be accepting gently used items again once the pandemic has ended.

National Charities

1. Goodwill

Known mostly for their thrift stores all over the US, Goodwill accepts in-kind donations of almost anything. From clothing to electronics and even vehicles – you can donate them all at Goodwill.  And yes, that includes baby clothes from newborn swaddles to toddler shirts and shoes. They also have drop-off stations in virtually every city around the country.

Learn more about donating baby clothes to Goodwill here.

2. The Salvation Army

Like Goodwill, Salvation Army also accepts almost all items of clothing. Aside from clothes, they also accept toys and books. Your donations are distributed to children in need not just in the US but also in over 130 countries around the globe. They also have multiple clothing banks spread around the country. So wherever you are, chances are there’s a Salvation Army drop-off center near you.

Learn more about donating baby clothes to Salvation Army here.

3. Vietnam Veterans of America

If you don’t have the time to drive all the way to a donation drop-off center, Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) can pick-up your used baby clothes. You can schedule a pick-up and they’ll get it right off your door within 24 hours.

But unlike most of the places on this list, VVA does not directly distribute your donated goods to those in need. Instead, they sell your donations to the highest bidder. The proceeds are then used to fund the organization’s support programs for war veterans.

Learn more about donating baby clothes to Vietnam Veterans of America here.

4. Baby2Baby

As its name suggests, Baby2Baby focuses on the needs of children across the country. For the past decade, they have distributed essentials to children in homeless shelters, foster care, and domestic violence programs. They also help kids who are victims of natural calamities like the recent wildfires in California.

They are headquartered in Los Angeles but they have a wide network of charity organizations where you can also drop off your donations. Aside from toys and clothing, they also accept donations of new diapers, wipes, formula, and hygiene items.

Learn more about donating baby clothes to Baby2Baby here.

5. American Red Cross

The American Red Cross is known for being one of the first responders during emergency situations. But what many people don’t know is that aside from cash donations, they also accept gently used clothing items. Like VVA, they also offer pick-up of donations right from your door. All collected items will be sold to thrift stores and the proceeds are used to fund their emergency response programs.

Learn more about donating baby clothes to the American Red Cross here.

Local Charities

1. Soup Kitchen

Soup kitchens are where the homeless and destitute get a hot meal free from judgment and discrimination. But aside from a meal, some soup kitchens also give out used clothing donated to them. If you want your old baby clothes to benefit your local community, you can donate them to a soup kitchen near you. Babies from homeless families can certainly make use of clothing donations, especially during winter.

2. Homeless Shelters

As you know, homeless shelters do not just cater to adults. Most of the time, they have to take in entire families including the babies. So some used baby clothes will be a big help.

Not all homeless shelters accept clothing donations though. So if you’re planning to donate, ask them first.

3. Places of Worship

Churches, temples, and most places of worship periodically run charity events. At these events, they usually collect food and clothing donations. If your local place of worship doesn’t hold a charity drive, you can ask your worship leader to organize one.