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Kids and Soup Kitchens
  • YummyMummy
    Posts: 32Member
    I'm trying to find a soup kitchen especially now that the holidays are approaching. I want to take my DD11 and DD5 to help and show them they've got it good. Do you fellow SMs think this is a good idea? I'm tired of them acting like spoiled brats and as if they don't have/get anything! They have every electronic device that an 11yo and 5yo shouldn't even have. It's to the point where we can't tell them "No!" or they'll throw a fit and act like we buy nothing for
  • YummyMummy
    Posts: 32Member
    *continuation*

    them. I want them to see that there are kids out there that have nothing and are content with their situations. I always told myself that my kids would have everything that I couldn't have growing up but this is beyond ridiculous. Scares me because what if(god forbid) we can no longer give them what they want, what will happen?
  • momofdbbmomofdbb
    Posts: 9,353Member
    It's a good idea. The church I go to has taken the kids to the womens shelter. It is a place for women and their children . Jessies place.
    " Wibbly wobbly timey wimey ......." The Doctor
    " I'm a leafe on the wind..watch how I soar ." Wash :((
    " Oh the wall had it comming.' Sherlock Holmes
    yea I am geek !!
  • YummyMummy
    Posts: 32Member
    Oh I forgot to mention I'm in Orlando. So any info. on any soup kitchen or something that nature will be fine. @momofdbb, would you happen to know if there is one in my location? Thanks!
  • momofdbbmomofdbb
    Posts: 9,353Member
    I couldn't find the exact same place but this one is like it. I think ? It sounds like it. http://www.centralfloridahomeless.org/services_center.html

    It is called the Coalition for the Homeless
    " Wibbly wobbly timey wimey ......." The Doctor
    " I'm a leafe on the wind..watch how I soar ." Wash :((
    " Oh the wall had it comming.' Sherlock Holmes
    yea I am geek !!
  • eapple
    Posts: 1,401Member
    I think it's good just to get your children in the habit of giving back. Don't just do it once to teach them a lesson, make it a part of who they are! Teaching children empathy and consideration is such a positive gift to the universe and our society. My girls are still young, 2 and 3 but this year we are going to a retirement home in costume a few nights before Halloween. I want them to feel good about bringing joy to others.
    And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music. ~Nietzsche
  • FreeToBeMee
    Posts: 643Member
    We used to help out at a place that delivers meals for people living with AIDS the day before Thanksgiving every year. It's great for them. And we did the retirement community for halloween a few years too when she was younger. Loved doing that but it would make me teary all the time seeing the residents faces light up at all these little people. 
  • 2fer1
    Posts: 39Guest
    I have always wanted to do this also. thanks for getting me thinking about it again
  • Luvlyssa
    Posts: 3,338Member

    another idea is taking them to a homeless shelter and having them maybe fold socks or gloves or something like that... people are great about donating THINGS but sometimes those places really need people to help clean organize etc.


     

    Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming. What do we do? We swim, swim.
  • PrincessPeach
    Posts: 240Member
    Great idea. I think about this every year but never do it.
    We don't have a lot (we have enough) so I try to get my daughter to understand that others have less or are having a hard time and that she should be grateful for what she does have. She is good about donating/giving to others.
  • maycausedizziness
    Posts: 200Member
    We've tried to do it with our kids but have been told that due to liability issues the kiddos have to be 12 years or older. So I would call around and ask.
  • undercoverbanana
    Posts: 7,904Member
    Contact local churches that have food banks. And ask at church run thrift stores. Or contact your local women's shelter. They would know.
    i'm nekkid.
  • Dragonbabyx3Dragonbabyx3
    Posts: 1,138Member
    I have been wanting to do this forever!  Mine are only 4,5 and 6 though.  I have been teaching them about donating to those less fortunate though.  And with our thanksgiving left overs we are going to stop by the local homeless hang outs (under the interstate bridges etc) with made up plates.  Anything we can do to help!
  • JenInHeels
    Posts: 101Member

    I did this with DD9 and DS12 last year.  We went and fed the homeless men.  The women and kid shelters are more favorable to volunteer at so they are booked out about 4 months in advance.  Also, I had to make quite a few calls because as another poster said some places have age limits due to liability.  I wanted to take them not only to show them how good they have it but to learn to help people and have empathy for less fortunate.  In the end though, I think all it taught them was to stay in school and not do drugs. LOL.  We had to walk through the ally in the dark to get to the mens shelter past all of the homeless which scared DD quite a bit and then they didn’t smell very good and a lot of them had missing teeth when we were serving them dinner.  They were all very polite but still made my kids think about how they never want to end up like that.  We will go back this year but I really want to get into the womens/childrens shelter.  I think I will call right now!

  • justkeepswimmingjustkeepswimming
    Posts: 780Member
    I wish I could, but where I am its considered a liability until they are almost adults. My older one could, but she already has a kind heart. While my younger is a good kid too, I feel she could benefit from your suggestion. Hope you can manage it!
    When I was young I thought that money was the most important thing in life; now that I am old I know that it is.
    ~Oscar Wilde
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  • Mom_o_Cass
    Posts: 51Member
    This is an AWESOME idea, and you are a rockin' Mama!! My daughter is almost 7 and we went through all of her Halloween costumes over the weekend and brought them to a local place who had a costume drive. Then she went through her toys and donated things that were in good shape, as well as some toys she'd never even used! I'm so proud of her.i work at the local food pantry to give back since they have helped us over the years and I am glad to see her doing it too.
    I hope you find a place!
  • Hoppitu
    Posts: 32Member

    Great Idea! Good luck!

     

    living in a world where everything is at your fingertips, its hard to raise appreciative children. This country/world is getting worse as time goes on. Instant gratification.... it makes for spoiled rotten children and greedy adults. We all need to take a step back, slow down, appreciate what we have and stop putting "stuff" above everything else.  I know I am just as guilty.   :-(

  • WebosMama
    Posts: 161Member
    The Salvation Army has a Women's shelter at
    400 W Colonial Dr
    Orlando, FL 32804
    Phone Number: (407)423-8581

    This might be a good place to start
  • pdxmama
    Posts: 1,470Member
    It's a great idea, but like @eapple said, not so much something that should be used to teach them a lesson but rather a part of their lives in general. My kids are too young to serve food at a soup kitchen, but I try my hardest to impress upon them how very lucky they are. We may not have much extra money, but they've never really had to go without. Every year before Christmas I give each of them a box and they go through their stuff and fill them up with toys, books, stuffed animals, etc. that they don't play with anymore and we take them to a transitional housing program for women & kids that are coming out of treatment or leaving a dv situation. As they get older we'll be able to do more, but with young ones something like this can be a good start.
  • gramalibbygramalibby
    Posts: 2,829Member
    It is the grandest of ideas , I have dragged kicking and cussin and screaming my teens . The youngers went and had a very great experience and we have made it a family tradition . Now the olders formally teens are takin their kids with us , special times .
  • crazybroad
    Posts: 91Member
    as mentioned before a lot of shelters and soup kitchens have plenty of volunteers and even more during the holidays. you could always start small by picking an angel off the salvation army tree and letting them pick a toy or something for that child or call local churches to see what kind of help they may need for the holidays. this year we are going to do a shoebox charity like...
    http://www.helpthechildren.org/hunger-in-our-world/christmas-shoebox?gclid=CKfJhpScoLMCFY6DQgodKBAAMw

    samaritans purse is one also.  anything however small that they can do to show empathy and kindness to others is always good! : )

  • YummyMummy
    Posts: 32Member
    Thank you ladies for all the feedback. I agree, it shouldn't only be to teach them a lesson but it just seems as if they're getting out of control. I'll probably make them also do the Secret Santa thing. They're great girls, nonetheless but I feel what we do for them is just never enough. I have already told them that they will not be getting anything for Christmas or not as much because they have just about everything.
    @WebosMama, I think I'm going to give that place a call. It really all depends on location for me, I guess. We're so sheltered I'm so scared to go to a place that's unfamiliar and I tend to keep locking my car doors lol even if they are already locked but just to make sure.
  • GingersnapGingersnap
    Posts: 7,713Member
    I watched a few documentaries about The Lost Boys of Sudan. 

    (1983-2005) 20,000 children were displaced or orphaned by civil war. They traveled, by foot, over a thousand miles seeking sanctuary. In some places they were simply turned away. They were sent from refugee camp to refugee camp over the course of years. They were forced to trek across the wilderness with no food or safe drinking water. Many died of gunshot wounds, animal attacks, dehydration, exhaustion, or starvation. 

    Now, I know that's really fucking grim, and quite a few steps away from the subject, but what I really want to share is the gift I got from those kids. 

    Material goods will not sustain happiness. 

    In a central place in the refugee camps, always under a tree, they would gather together often during the day. They laughed, sang, played, told stories, danced - whatever to bring comfort and pass the time. There were days at the refugee camps that they called dark days. It's when they ran out of food.  During dark days, they'd stay together almost the whole time. 

    A group of the boys, young men, really, qualified for a placement program in the United States. For the first time in their lives, they experienced running water, electricity, convenience foods. They went to school, got jobs, and their own apartments. You know what they missed? You know what they couldn't understand? In this country where we have so much WE ARE SO ALONE. We work, study and sleep and barely have time to be with each other. They missed the feeling of community. 
    image
  • missy545missy545
    Posts: 396Member
    When I was younger, I used to volunteer at a VFW through out the year a few times a month on Saturdays.  We would help make breakfast for the vets.  It was a great experience'

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