GIFT GUIDE: 8th Day-- Donation to local school.

I personally often fall victim to thinking too globally. I think of the people I lived with in El Salvador and their school that needed new books. I think of the schools in Haiti that had an unclean and inconsistent water source. I donate there. I worry about the schools there. Schools around the world consume my thoughts. I rarely remember to think of the school a block from my house. But the reality of it all is that thousands of schools here are in dire need of just a little boost of support. A few gallons of tempura paint so the kids can paint rather than only draw, a years' supply of facial tissues (24 boxes or so), a big box of extra pencils, extra crayons, anything. Domestic public schools are often hurting for basic supplies. Have an artist friend? Call the public school close to her home and ask what the art teacher would like that they can purchase for $100 or so. Donate the money to the school there, so the kids that attend the school can have as enriching an education as possible. Have a musical friend? See if the music teachers has any kids unable to afford a recorder for the annual recital, unable to pay their membership into and after school music lesson, or unable to attend an upcoming field trip. Cover the costs in honor of your friend and let them now. Enriching your local schools benefits absolutely everyone in the school and community. And the U.S. as a whole. Give the gift of an enriched education this year. (Photo above is of my elementary school in small town Ohio. I can still sing my school song perfectly and am infinitely grateful for the education I received there.)