By StatePoint

Want to give back this holiday season? There are many ways to get into the charitable spirit. And if you need some inspiration for how to go about benefitting those in your local and global community, consider the following ideas.

Serve a Holiday Meal

Food is one of the most fundamental ways to show you care, and, delicious food and the holidays go hand-in-hand. Consider serving a warm holiday meal to someone who needs it.

There are many ways to do this, such as preparing a meal at home and delivering it to a sick or elderly neighbor, inviting a colleague or friend who doesn’t have family in the area to your home for a holiday meal, or volunteering in a food pantry to serve a meal to other members of your community. If these efforts are not possible, look for a canned food drive near you and pick up some extra groceries to donate when shopping.

Give Access to Safe Water

Give a gift to a loved one this season that’s not only thoughtful for him or her, but also benefits the community at large. One great way to do that is through the gift of water. Due to microplastics and other common water contaminants, safe drinking water is not necessarily a given these days. However, you can provide someone you love with at-home and on-the-go access to safe drinking water with a LifeStraw water filtration product.

Helping to reduce plastic waste by providing an alternative to single-use bottles, you’ll be making a global difference. What’s more, for every LifeStraw product purchased, including LifeStraw Go 2-Stage Special Edition, LifeStraw Universal and LifeStraw Play, one child in a community in need receives safe drinking water for an entire school year. LifeStraw provided its one millionth child with safe drinking water in Kenya in 2018. And new special edition bottles benefit the Conservation Alliance, a public lands conservation organization, and LifeStraw’s Safe Water Fund, which supports natural disaster victims by providing them with safe drinking water.

Give Life

Did you know that the simple act of donating blood can save a life? Indeed, one pint of blood is all that’s needed to save three lives, according to America’s Blood Centers. Make an appointment at a local blood bank. It takes just about 10 minutes, and afterwards you can feel good about the potential difference you’ve made.

Another way you can be a life saver is by ensuring you are a registered organ donor. Use the holiday season as an opportunity to add your name to the National Donate Life Registry.

Before stringing lights or adding tinsel to the tree, you can truly get into the holiday spirit by finding meaningful ways to give back.