We received this Christmas Jar, along with the book, during the holidays with the intention to fill it with leftover change and then donate it to a family or organization in need.
Well, like every year, this past December was incredibly hectic and my goal to donate the money never happened. So we just continued to fill the jar.
Last week, I brought my kids to the New York Aquarium in Coney Island, Brooklyn. We were all excited to see the new renovations after the terrible destruction from Superstorm Sandy in October, 2012. Unfortunately they are still in the process of rebuilding many of the exhibits, so it took us just 45 minutes to go through the entire aquarium, including the sea lion show.
On the drive home we talked about Superstorm Sandy and how it destroyed many buildings and homes, including the aquarium. My 5 year-old son mentioned his memories of it and then began to express his feelings of concern for the sea life. “What happened to them? Did they die? Did they get a new home?”.
After answering his questions we talked about ways to help the aquarium. “The Christmas jar!” Yes, this is an excellent idea.
The following week we took a trip to the bank to exchange all the coins into bills. The kids were very excited about this as they got to participate in the process. Gavin made a guess of $78.00 and Blake said $2.00. Hmm, I wonder who was closer?
The grand total was $110.78 and we made the formal donation to their website.
This was a great gift that we received for Christmas. I would strongly encourage families to create the jars for gifts and make one for their home as well. Get your kids involved and show them how important it is to give back.
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