It's time to see where my first month of conscious charity involvement has gone. This is my first month with 25 Things for Charity. I'd like to thank Dianne once again for pointing this group out to me!

1. I sent off a box of toys for the children who are victims of Hurricane Katrina. This wonderful initiative was something I read about in Zoanna's blog.

2. I sent off my first four quilt squares to OECS.

3. I've completed two charity Christmas ornaments, one for Kelsey's Tree and one for the Healthy Families Illinois Thanksgiving Bazaar. You can read about these and other charities at Cyberstitchers. (I have to pop these into tomorrow's mail!)

I have talked with Max, my 7 1/2 year old, a little bit about charity and we are going to do Operation Shoebox this year. He will select toys, games, etc. to fill a shoebox that will be sent to a child abroad. I believe his school is sending their boxes to Indonesia. Holland has a pretty large Indonesian population due to the old days of having colonies. Max is pretty excited about this project, which will take place in November.

Also for November, I am contacting the local nursing home to find out how I can best play 'Secret Santa' for about 5 of the elderly folks living there. Here, gifts are given anonymously on the evening of December 5th. Instead of Santa Claus, Sinterklaas comes round. It's traditional to give the gifts anonymously, and I know all too well that there are too many elderly people who don't have family or friends who visit. I'm going to make 'Santa Sacks' with little gifts inside like Life Savers and no-slip socks and such. I want to ask the nursing home for gift guidelines and - if possible - names so I can personalize the sacks with some nice cross stitching or embroidery.

I have also checked out some new quilt squares organizations. There are so many incredible people out there. The bravery that it takes to face each day with a chronic illness ... it's so humbling. The mere thought of my own child having an illness is almost more than I can bear. The parents and children that these quilts go to are real heros. And the wonderful people who organize these charities and assemble the quilts and do the million and one administrative tasks associated with any organization are also heros.

Going around this month with an active, engaged attitude toward charity has been an interesting experience. It's kind of like dieting, in that you're suddenly very preoccupied with something that you formerly took for granted. I honestly never noticed that there is a nursing home on my route back from Monday night fitness until this month. Nor had I given much thought to the asylums set up to temporarily house refugees and political immigrants. I had not thought about how to voice my ideas about charity to my children (I'm a big believer in teaching by example, but sometimes some explanation really helps). I am most interested to see how much this "exercise" will have changed me and my family by the time the 12 months are up.