Donating things to a charitable organization during the holiday season can be a tricky affair for anybody. On the one hand, you do not want to donate something which is not going to be very useful (and you can make up your own mind, if it came to things like eggnog and fruit cake), you also do not want to just donate “boring” things that are going to be functional, but that will do nothing to brighten up the potentially dreary spirits of the people in this world who are in genuine need. It can be very easy for poor people to become hopeless, especially during a season in which it seems as if there is a lot of work to be done, tons of bills to pay, but never quite enough to do (as well as give) the special little things thatmore affluent people seem able to do without any particular difficulty.
First off, it is always a good idea to ask your charity of choice what sorts of things they are most in need of at the time. If they say that they have plenty of food, you should believe them. They have no vested interest in telling stories to the people who keep them going in the first place. Plus, it can take away a lot of the challenge of deciding what to give, if you have a short list basically set down in front of you. Just pick a thing or two off of the list, get a few of them and donate away- it’ll make somebody’s holiday season a little bit merrier.
Of course, for some charities there is just no such thing as “enough” of pretty much anything. Whether you can donate a dozen toys that you know the kids will love, or if all you can donate is a twenty dollar bill and a few cans of soup, anything that you can give to somebody else is going to be some degree of help. And after all, the idea is not that we could fix the underlying problem. But we can help, though.