How can we make it easier to give back this holiday season?

Posted Dec 4th 2009 4:27 PM by Amy Miller for Priority Health
Filed under: Health & Wellness

iStock_000007182674XSmall Paying $2 for wearing jeans is a common practice at Priority Health. And I don’t mind. It’s always for a great cause. What impresses me most though, is that our jeans days are organized by a group of employees who put together fundraising events all year long. They go out of their way to put together bake sales, company photo contests, coat collections, online auctions and much more to give back to the community. And why? Because they are passionate about giving back to the communities, where they live and work.

Through their hard work, they’ve made it easier for everyone within our company to give to the community. And it’s made me think. How can I make it easier for those around me to help give back? Maybe we could start with this holiday season.

Here are just a few ideas, I found, of ways to help others give too:

Purchase a gift basket on someone’s behalf online. Access of West Michigan puts together food baskets for the community. You can help donate a basket too by visiting their website.
Invite friends or family to join you in putting together items for Toys for Tots or a food basket for the local shelter.
Purchase an online donation for someone. A great site for this is, Change the Present. Here you can donate or give a gift on behalf of someone you know.
Organize a food drive at your holiday family get-together.
Ask your coworkers to gather their old coats and volunteer to organize taking them Goodwill or a local shelter

I’m definitely going to be approaching gift-giving a little bit differently this year. What ideas do you have to help make giving back to the community easier?

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Corey Wynsma

A great way to give back is to start a campaign over at ThePoint.com. There, you can register for an account and start your own pledge drive. Think of it as an online version of the old sponsorship drives. As a kid, I remember doing a roller-skate-athon, where I got friends and family to pledge so much money for every hour I could continue to roller-skate. At ThePoint.com, you can create your own similar campaigns. If you're like me and you'll need to drop some weight after the holidays, you could set yourself a goal of losing some weight and ask your friends and family to pledge so many dollars for each pound you lose. You can even pick the charity. Our local food pantries are always a good choice. Check it out: http://www.thepoint.com/

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Amy Miller

I am a Senior Communications Consultant for Priority Health, and have worked in health care for more than 8 years. I graduated from Grand Valley State University with degrees in health science and communications. I’m fortunate that in my role at Priority Health, I have access to a number of talented professionals including experts in general health, health benefits, wellness, nutrition and fitness. On the personal side, I was born and raised in northern Michigan. I am a new mom who is learning a lot about parenthood and balancing work and life.

How can we make it easier to give back this holiday season?

Amy Miller

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