5+1 ways to help before Christmas – One good deed can save the day!

Christmas is coming for everyone - but what kind? Many of us have situations in our lives when our own strength is not enough, loneliness kicks in or our wallets are helplessly empty. At times like these, one good deed can save an entire Christmas! Take a look at 5 + 1 great tips on how you can help others under Christmas.

Christmas is a time of giving and caring. Although, big and chubby Christmas presents or mountains of delicacies at the Christmas table aren’t a matter of course for everyone. In collaboration with Commu, we considered how we could bring Christmas to everyone and make helping others under Christmas even easier.

In this blog, we’ve collected 5 + 1 easy ways to help under Christmas featuring traditional Christmas fundraisers and other ideas for helping. And last but not least, we’re introducing Commu - a new mobile app that makes it easy to put your ideas in action and get help quickly nearby based on your location.

How to participate:

This is what you should do:

• Do a good deed under Christmas.
• Participate in the campaign by commenting which deed you did in this blogs comment section.

Additional info: If you wish you can also participate in social media. Check out C0mmu's Facebook and Know Your Hoods Instagram for more information on this.

Time: Participate before the 23rd of December, 2021.

Prizes: We will raffle two winners of everyone who participated. The prize is that you can decide to which organization we will make a donation of 100 euros.

1. Write a Christmas card for an elderly

Do you love writing Christmas cards?

A very easy way to make someone happy at Christmas is to write a Christmas card!

EDIT 9.12. This campaign has already finnished but you can find inspiration to whom you want to send a card this Christmas: For the ninth time, the creative care community Siskot ja Simot is running the Christmas Mail for the Elderly campaign, which collects and distributes Christmas cards to seniors who are customers of home care or housing services. You can participate in the campaign by December the 7th and detailed instructions can be found on the webpage of Siskot ja Simot (only in Finnish).

2. Donate a Christmas present to a child

Joulupuu has already taken a position of a traditional Christmas fundraiser that operates all over Finland. It is a very important one, because every child is worth a gift on Christmas! Joulupuu ry delivers Christmas presents to children and young people from unequal families on a voluntary basis. Gifts reach their recipients directly through local fundraisers with no middlemen or expenses.

3. Tukenasi ry

No one should be left alone under Christmas! Tukenasi ry, which operates in the Turku region, encounters young adults and people over the age of 60 who need support for a challenging life situation. Unfortunately, not all young people have a reliable adult to advise and walk by their side when it’s time for big changes: to move on for their own first time, complete their studies or find a job. Elderly people, on the other hand, may need a listener and someone to walk by their side.

Join the group of volunteers of the association or support Tukenasi ry's activity with the amount you want.

4. Donate to the homeless

One of the most severe situations is to be homeless in Finland and especially at Christmas - during the coldest and darkest times of the year. Can you even imagine? Vva ry organizes a Christmas collection for the homeless, where you can donate gloves that prevent their fingers from freezing or a working mobile phone to make everyday life easier. If you wish, you can also support Vva ry's operations with a monetary donation.

You can also give your own time and get trained as a Vva ry volunteer. As a volunteer, you can sort and distribute clothing donations or make your own expertise available to the organization. Are you a hairdresser and would like to brighten up someone homeless with a new hairstyle? Or are you perhaps an enthusiastic photographer and willing to produce material for the needs of association?

5. Cheer up a future customer at a restaurant

Did you know that when you visit a cafe, you can also cheer up someone else during Christmas? Many restaurants and cafés around the world have adopted a way in which customers can pre-order, for example, a coffee or a sandwich for the homeless or needy. The method is not established in Finland very widely, but it is possible! Pay a small amount at the checkout and ask the cashier to give a free treat to someone who arrives later.

There are a few places that have a habit of this. For example in Fiilis Café in Turku you can also buy something for the needy when paying your own purchase. All purchases for the needy are accumulated as notes on the wall, where a person in a difficult financial situation can take a peek at what is currently bought for them.

6. Commu | the digital platform for helping

The new mobile app Commu takes helping to a whole new level. You can find the person in need of help directly on the map of the Commu app, or you can easily ask for help yourself by leaving a notification.

Commu is a digital platform where individuals, associations, cities and municipalities as well as sports clubs can all work together by offering and receiving help. Commu makes it possible to find a variety of helpers for those who need it and it doesn't require that you belong to Facebook groups or get involved in any specific associations. And Commu also enables you to find an association or organization that is the right channel for you to give or receive help!

What kind of help would you like to give? What do you consider important? Offer to give the help you prefer in Commu.

Here are some ideas for what kind of help you can offer at Commu during Christmas:

• Offer to pick up Christmas shopping, clean cars from snow or even bake gingerbreads to your neighbors.
• Offer to take someone Christmas shopping, a Christmas time event or a Christmas church.
• Offer to take a candle to someones grave for Christmas.
• Offer to be a Santa Claus for free. (Santa's are very expensive for low-income families!)
• Invite a lonely one over for Christmas.

Joining Commu is easy, all you have to do is download the Commu App on your device and register. Take a look at the detailed instructions on the Commu website and download the app for free from the Google Play Store or the App Store!

What is your Christmas deed?

A few clicks online or helping in person? What is your style of helping others? Remember that every Christmas deed is just as important! Comment below what Christmas deed you did in 2021 and participate in a raffle.

A Christmas present of helping others will be raffled among those who leave a comment. The present is that you can decide to which organization we will make a donation of 100 euros.

You can also follow and participate in the campaign on Facebook and Instagram.

-Anna & Ninna and our partner Commu