New Traditions for Our Annual Family Food and Toy Drive

We’ve decided on some new family traditions! Now we do our entire annual family food and toy drive virtually. This is perfect for those who want to help but can’t get out as often, those who are overwhelmed by their December schedule, families with sick children, and children who get overwhelmed in a store’s toy department. The virtual food and toy drives we chose can even be used year round!

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links (at no cost to you).

The Kindness Elves and Pete the Cat Are a Fun Way to Encourage Participation in a Food and Toy Drive

We started participating in food and toy drives when my now-10-year-old granddaughter, Zoey, was 2 years old. The Kindness Elves met Pete the Cat and had a note that said “Let’s go to the food and toy drive with Pete the Cat and give it our all!”

“Give it our all” refers to a special message from Pete the Cat Saves Christmas. I love the message and song that runs through the book. While the book isn’t that understandable for babies and young toddlers, the song from it is still perfect (and toddlers do love the book):

“Give it your all, give it your all.

At Christmas we give,

so give it your all.”

You can listen to and learn the tune for the song at Harper Collins sing-along version of the book.

We continued to use Kindness Elves and Pete the Cat in our food and toy drive in 2016.

Our Pete the Cat Saves Christmas Doll joined us again in 2017 with the Kindness Elves (now a family with a baby). In addition to focusing on Pete the Cat Saves Christmas, we read books about hunger and poverty to give Zoey a deeper understanding about why we do the food and toy drive each year. (Note: The Pete the Cat Saves Christmas Doll is no longer available, but you could probably use a Pete the Cat plush doll with a cat or dog Santa hat if you want a Christmas version of Pete the Cat.)
In 2018, we were joined by a new baby and toddler in our family!

In 2019, we were joined by the Kindness Elves, Pete the Cat, and the entire families of both my now-adult kids for our 5th annual food and toy drive.

With the Covid pandemic, our 6th annual family food and toy drive went online and curbside in 2020.

In 2021, we had another online and curbside family food and toy drive.In 2022, we had an online family food and toy drive, but we delivered the food and toys to a donation center.

In 2023, we tried a new completely virtual food and toy drive, and it’s become our new tradition!

New Traditions for Our Annual Family Food and Toy Drive

This year was extra busy with early December scheduling conflicts. Any parents with school concerts and other December events know what I’m talking about! On the day we could get together, my oldest granddaughter, Zoey (11 years old), was sick in bed with a high fever. But our virtual food and toy drive was still a success with the Kindness Elves and Pete the Cat, my granddaughter Sophia (7 years old), my grandson Caleb (6¾ years old), and me. Caleb and Sophia’s parents were there with Arabella, too, although at 8 months, she let the other grandkids choose her selections. 

As always, the Kindness Elves and Pete the Cat were ready for our family food and toy drive. We started with our usual Pete the Cat Saves Christmas, and even Baby Arabella enjoyed the sing-a-long version.

Our New Traditions – Making Donations Virtually Through Instacart’s Community Carts and the Marine Toys for Tots Toy Box

We loved our virtual food and toy drive last year, and it was the perfect option this year!

Community Carts Food Bank Donations

I love that Instacart has a Community Carts feature now. There are food banks around the country that you can choose for your donation, and Instacart will deliver your donation to that food bank. We live in San Diego, so we chose Feeding San Diego. Our choice says this:

“Feeding San Diego

Donate items to help families get the food they need, and they’ll be delivered directly to this food bank.”

A good selection of items are given that are items most needed at that food bank. I’m impressed that they’re from Aldi because they are much less expensive than other grocery stores. A donation goes a long way through Aldi! And there are many natural items as well as regular name-brand foods. Even though I probably wouldn’t shop at Aldi for fresh produce, Aldi seems like a good choice for the products needed for the food bank.

Typically, each of my grandkids would choose some foods from the Community Carts page before I choose a few extra foods and place the order. It was a bit different with Zoey sick this year, but we were still able to place our order before Christmas. Caleb made the majority of selections and enjoyed finding organic versions (still at an inexpensive price).

As usual, the Instacart receipt came through my email, although this receipt is listed as a donation. Our order was supposed to be delivered within 5 days, and the order was fulfilled and delivered to Feeding San Diego in less than that. All items were in stock this year, although I would be notified through Instacart to make an alternate selection if any weren’t available. It’s such a great experience, and I love knowing which items are most needed by our food bank!

Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots

I’m a fan of the Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots program. There are both local and online options.

Typically, each of my grandkids would chose a toy virtually from the Toys for Tots Box (the Marine Toys for Tots virtual toy box). This year, Sophia chose a toy for someone in Zoey’s age group since Zoey was so sick (fortunately, with just a 2-day flu). Sophia also chose a toy for someone in Arabella’s age group as well as one in her own age group.

The site (made by Tremor, a partner of the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation) says:

“Simply select the child’s age and toys you would like to give and your donation will be distributed across the country to children who need them the most. As always, we’ll take care of the delivery (it’s our favorite part).”

The toys available when we placed our order ranged from $6.99 to two toys over $100. There were many options for under $20. I was impressed with the toys my grandkids picked … all very nice toys for children who wouldn’t be able to get Christmas presents like them otherwise. Placing the order is very simple. Like last year, right after I placed the order, my receipt came through my email. The receipt can be used as acknowledgement of a “Gift-in-Kind’ Donation if you choose.

My Favorite Parts of Our Virtual Family Food and Toy Drive

• I love the fact that it’s emotionally easier for young children to donate toys online. I’ve always been amazed at how well my grandkids have handled choosing a toy at a store for another child when they didn’t get one, but making the choices online eliminate any stress for them. (Note: When the choosing is done in a store, with toddlers and young preschoolers, I usually like to take the major role in choosing the toy. I focus on a toy the child loves but already has at home. That way, the giving experience is a joyful one. Otherwise, toddlers will generally want the donated toy themselves and might be sad about the experience.)
• Often, we have difficulty doing our food and toy drive early enough in the Christmas season to participate in local Christmas drives. Not only is there no Christmas deadline to use Instacart Community Carts and Toys for Tots, but they’re available year round! I also love that the Toys for Tots Toy Box will have Marines distribute the donations “across the country to children who need them the most.” I’m thankful that families who request toys for their children can still get them even if their requests are made late in the season.
• They’re so simple to use. The holiday season is invariably busy, and it’s nice to know we can enjoy making a difference regardless of how busy we are.

This doesn’t mean that we can’t still do the Angel Tree at the mall, Barnes and Noble’s local book drive, or another local  food or toy drive before Christmas. I love Mikala Albertson, MD’s blog post “Christmas is Cumulative.” But I think our virtual food and toy donations are something we can do every year.

The Ultimate Guide to Kindness Elves

I’ve collected Kindness Elf activities and ideas since they first came out in 2013. You can find all of my Kindness Elf posts in my Ultimate Guide to Kindness Elves.

Wondering where it’s best to follow me?

If you’re interested in kid-related content, sign up for the Living Montessori Now newsletter. I share my Bits of Positivity parenting and character-education posts in the weekly Living Montessori Now newsletter along with lots of great kids’ activities and Montessori ideas from my Living Montessori Now blog. You’ll get a monthly freebie (and previous monthly freebies) with link and password if you subscribe to the Living Montessori Now weekly newsletter!

If you’re interested in inspiration and motivation, the best place for you will probably be the Bits of Positivity Facebook page. You’ll find lots of inspiration there from the Bits of Positivity blog and from around the Internet. For word art inspiration, be sure to follow me at the Bits of Positivity Facebook page! Thanks so much!