By Ginger, from the Mom’s Network

Last night my son and I gathered all the coins that have been accumulating all year long in our Tzedakah box (Tzedakah is a Hebrew word that loosely translated means “charity”) as well as all the change all over our house, put it into two Ziplock bags, and carried it to the Salvation Army bell-ringer at the strip mall near our house. This is the 10th year in a row that we have reserved one night of Hanukkah to give a gift of charity. Our tradition includes feeding all of our coins into the red tin bucket – which takes a full five minutes — during which time we talk to the Salvation Army volunteer about his job, his life, his Christmas, and he talks to us about our lives, our coins, our Hanukah, and I longingly look at my Tahiti fund disappearing into the coin slot. There’s a lot of laughter and warmth and a few surprised looks from passers-by.

Last night was particularly funny because we were just feeding the last few handfuls of coins when a second Salvation Army volunteer came out of the store and saw what we were doing. “Hey, wait a minute!” he yelled, holding up a second red tin bucket and clanging his bell. “I got a bucket, too! And mine’s empty!”

(more…)