By Denise Gary
Photographs © Denise Gary
I had the honor and pleasure of volunteering time at “Better to Give” during the holidays, helping disadvantaged kids choose presents to give to their loved ones. Kids Need to Read provided 800 books to this worthy program, which makes it possible for low-income children in the Phoenix area to experience the joy of giving, as well as translate that action into giving back to their community! The children earned the honor of choosing presents for their loved ones by contributing volunteer time to their community and writing essays describing the knowledge they had learned from the Better to Give program.
The room was filled with gifts for the children to choose for their family members.
Some Kids Need to Read books were bundled and used as gifts for siblings.
Volunteers helped the children make their choices.
After gifts were chosen, the children were taken to add tags and bows to the wrapped presents.
They were then greeted by Santa, who presented them with holiday treats.
As they left, each child received a backpack containing a book from Kids Need to Read to keep for themselves.
It is an honor to give to others, and something we can all do no matter our economic circumstances. It was a joy to witness this concept being happily embraced by these young children.
