It´s quite easy to get caught up in working, looking after and playing with kids and the daily hustle and bustle that keeps us so busy these days. But it´s important to remember that not everyone is so fortunate. Often, just a few minutes of your time can do wonders to lift the spirits of someone else who is dire need of it.

There are plenty of ways to do something for someone in need and you´ll find that you benefit from it as well. Taking a moment to pull off a selfless act is probably the best thing you can do to make your life that much more meaningful. And, it can be seriously motivational knowing that your life isn´t as bad as you thought!

• Write a letter to a sick kid. Make a Child Smile lets you send a postcard, note or small gift to a child who is struggling with a health issue. You can also write their siblings or parents. Let me tell you, reading the stories on this site will make you so grateful that your own family is healthy!

• Donate some toys. Many towns and cities hold toy drives to collect gifts that will be given to families on Christmas Day. You can also donate toys to your local battered women´s shelter or the fire department where they will be used to comfort children who are going through a tough time.

• Sponsor a child. There are literally dozens of programs available that let you sponsor a child in a foreign country. For just a few dollars a month, you can send a kid to school and make sure that he or she is properly nourished.

• Help a girl go to school. Girls worldwide have a far lower graduation rate than boys, but if you want to help a girl make it through, there is a very neat project in Africa that provides adolescent girls with cloth menstrual pads. Since many of these girls are too poor or simply have no access to hygiene products, they tend to miss school every month thanks to menstruation. This project lets you donate pads that could change their lives.

• Donate food. There are always food banks that could use some extra food. Pick up a can of beans or a bag of pasta next time you´re doing your shopping and stick it in a box to take to a food bank. It costs very little and once the box is full, donate it.

• Give some soap. Homeless shelters are the perfect place to do some good. Even donating a box of hotel size soaps is a big help, or buy some toothbrushes and travel size tubes of toothpaste for them to give out.

• Make a quilt. Got a bit of extra time in the evenings? Then why not chip in to make a quilt for someone who really needs it? Ugly Quilts makes blankets for homeless people. Love Quilts creates cross-stitch quilts for sick children, you just donate one square. Heavenly Angels in Need uses baby quilts to cover NICU isolettes.

• Help a mom. Donate formula, bottles, and baby toys to a women´s shelter or your local free clinic. These can be used to help moms who just don´t have the means to give their baby what they need.

There are plenty more options out there to help someone. It doesn´t need to take much time or energy and can make a huge difference in someone else´s life. We sometimes forget in between holidays that these people still need a helping hand.

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