After sledding, consider helping families who struggle on snow days, every day
I'm lucky. My kids are lucky. For us, a snow day means a day off from the normal hustle and bustle of daily life. But snow days aren't so much fun for a lot of kids around here.
Posted — UpdatedI'm lucky. My kids are lucky. For us, a snow day means a day off from the normal hustle and bustle of daily life.
Instead of an after-school schedule that had me traipsing across Raleigh from piano lesson to soccer practice to basketball team celebration, we'll likely be tucked inside our cozy home after a day of sledding and hot chocolate. Maybe we'll have a movie night complete with homemade pizza.
I work from home, making it easy to knock out some of my responsibilities while the kids rotate among neighborhood houses. My husband also can get work done from the kitchen table.
But snow days aren't so much fun for a lot of kids around here.
"Many programs aimed at feeding children in need are tightly intertwined if not directly connected with school," Middleton wrote last week after most school systems were closed for four days. "When schools close due to weather conditions, thousands of children in our service area go without breakfast and lunch. In our Raleigh, Durham, and Sandhills communities, many schools have been closed all week long, leaving hundreds of thousands of kids without the school meals they depend on for five days straight. And because many schools were still closed on Friday, thousands more in these areas will not receive their Weekend Power Pack filled with extra meals to get them through Saturday and Sunday."
What's more, the food bank has its own challenges as drivers can't drop off food to agencies that it works with or pick up leftover food from stores, she wrote. Volunteers can't drive in to distribute the food.
"And for the people we serve, the challenges are even greater," Middleton wrote. "Families struggle to pay for extra childcare, higher heating bills, and put more food on the table. Closed businesses may result in lost wages for workers, making their paychecks even smaller. People without a permanent residence must try to find an open bed at a nearby shelter and protect themselves from harsh conditions."
So, after all of the sledding and hot chocolate and cookies and fun today, here's an indoor activity. While we might not be able to help the kids who are struggling today, we can help them tomorrow and the days after that.
If you're looking for something to keep the kids occupied, why not collect canned goods or other items today to donate once the roads clear. Get all of the neighborhood kids together to collect items from their pantries.
Here are places that could use your donations:
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