SummerSHARE- Give GOOD Summer Memories to Children in Need
For me, summer digs up memories of barefoot ballet leaps over sprinklers in a sopping wet backyard, moms’ bottomless, waterproof pool bags with one billion pockets, late night cookouts where it seemed parents almost forgot bedtime ---- almost! Fireflies and boat rides at dusk on the lake. I think of watermelons being sliced, potato salad getting dished out, and hamburgers grilling. Never once did I have to question whether I was getting a meal.
Unfortunately, this is not what summer feels like to thousands of children in Charlotte. Some kids are waiting - waiting for parents to come home from long days at work, waiting to see their aunt or guardian, waiting for someone to get to the bus stop to haul groceries back home, waiting to be taken anywhere.
School lunch is a thing of the past, and some are waiting for us to step up to make sure their basic needs are met. Second Harvest Food Bank is looking for peanut butter and oatmeal, again, the basics. How I long to give kids these memories, and SHARE Charlotte’s partnering organizations do this, but, ultimately, the basics first - the tangibles.
SummerSHARE strives to give need a summer break. By shopping for GOOD for a nonprofit that benefits children and meeting the tangible needs of those in our community who are waiting, you can help create summer memories of gifts, food, and comforts for children that would otherwise go without this summer. SHARE Charlotte nonprofit partners like KIPP Charlotte need paperback books. A Child’s Place needs school uniforms and hair lotion - items we take for granted, and Thompson needs diapers, and Elon Homes needs a high chair, and Bethlehem Center needs art supplies. If we have enough, let the cups overflow into others’ lives. Many of SHARE Charlotte’s nonprofit partners need a “Christmas in July” in order to help meet the needs of the children in our community.
If you want to help them serve and love the children of Charlotte - to show up - to stop the waiting - you can shop the Give Shop® and purchase items for nonprofits that are working to better the lives of children this summer. The items are sent directly to the organization of your choice, and you’ll know where your money is going - to give a child a place to create or draw, an infant a seat where he can learn to eat and food for those waiting to be fed.