After the family opens the gifts, take time this holiday season to continue the circle of giving by helping those who might not have had as comfortable a Christmas.
Give yourself more storage room for all the presents you just got by donating used but useable items to your local thrift store. Places like Alpha Thrift Store can take your secondhand items and sell them to support ongoing programs for the less fortunate people in our town.
Similarly, Foodbank of Santa Barbara County has been busy this time of year, supplying food to the many agencies it supports. Other agencies, like Casa Esperanza and Santa Barbara Rescue Mission could also use a donation of goods or volunteer time.
Now that you’ve gotten a brand new cell phone for Christmas, don’t trash your old cell phone, or forget about it in a junk drawer at home. Send it to Cell Phone for Soldiers, a program started by a couple of Massachusetts teens, to recycle cell phones and use the money to purchase calling cards for soldiers spending the holidays overseas.