ECHOage and Charity

One of the values we find most important to teach our kids is the value of charity. Obviously, we run The Baby Alex Foundation and donations to our charity are the means by which we give out grants. But we don't talk about the Foundation much with our kids. Mostly, we talk about our community and how important it is to help others near where we live. Our family's 2013 value of the year is abundance. Our lessons to the kids on abundance is that the more you give out of anything kind and nice, the more good you create in the world. Give out love (or any kind deed) and you will create a ripple that will grow and expand and one day come back to you. My kids have a sticker chart that reads, "Alex's/Izzy's Good Deed Chart". We give out stickers simply for doing good deeds. This week, the Foundation was approved as a charitable recipient on the ECHOage website (www.echoage.com). This website makes it fast and easy for parents to create online invitations to their child's birthday party. In leu of gifts, the parent asks for a donation. Half of the donation goes toward buying a nice gift for the birthday boy or girl, and half serves as a tax exempt donation to the charity of the party holder's choice. The idea of ECHOage is brilliant. If your child has a birthday party coming up, consider giving ECHOage a try. Choose a charity, talk about the importance of giving to others, and watch your children's perspective on life deepen. They won't miss the small, plastic gifts, because they will be getting one big, nice gift instead. Plus they will be helping ease the burdens of the world. On our kids' birthdays each year, we donate to a cause. This year, through ECHOage, we'll not only donate, we will involve the families of all the kids invited to their birthday parties to get involved in charity.