As a parent, I know it’s my responsibility to teach my kids certain values. Studying. Teamwork. Setting goals. Thinking of other people. With most of these, it’s an easy fix: reward them for getting good grades, put them on a sports team and let them learn winning is more fun and winning happens when they play as a team, give them a video game they really want to conquer and let them at it.
But how do you get your kids to stop and think about people who are less fortunate in the midst of your busy life? I mean, you’ve already got them studying and on a sports team or two and playing their Wii, on top of just being kids. That’s a lot already. And as the parent, since I’m not personally involved in any charities, I can’t just tell them to learn from my example.
Well, Toyota has a pretty easy fix for this problem with their “One Hundred Cars for Good” program. They are giving away 100 cars, over the course of 100 days, to 100 different charities.
What’s even better is that we get to pick the charities. They have it set up so that the pool of 500 charities gets narrowed down to the 100 winners by public voting. Every day between now and August 16 (this actually started back in May), we get a new group of five charities to pick from. So every day there is a new vote, and a new charity gets picked to be one of the 100.
So what do they get? Well, Toyota is giving them a new car, which is a pretty sweet deal for anyone. Plus it’s a new Toyota, and we know they are a quality company with reliable cars. In fact, my family is considering replacing a vehicle, and the top of our wish list is a Toyota Sienna.
Then if you watch any of the videos the individual non-profits put up about their program and why they need a car, you realize how big a deal this is for them. A lot of these people are using their own cars for this work. How many volunteers either drop out or hang back because of that? How much does not having a dedicated vehicle limit what these groups can do? A new car they can depend on is going to go a long way for them. It would be a special contribution, and one you can really feel good about helping them get. That’s because all the groups made a video to show you exactly what they’re going to use the new Toyota for, so you can see the work they already do and what the possibilities to expand are.
Let me bring this back home and point out how easy this is for you to do with your kids. You go in to Facebook, and you access the Toyota 100 Cars for Good App. Then you pick a favorite charity of the day and vote. That simple.
It’s not a big time commitment. It’s not something you have to leave your house to do. It’s not just writing a check to the SPCA where you adopted the family dog from. It’s quick and easy, but it does help. And it’s an easy way to get your kids thinking about charity and helping others and how it’s not just the big obvious things we see on TV, like animal rescues or natural disaster clean-up. You can find stuff in your area, or you can find things that your kids are going to care about. Watch the videos with them so they can see how much a handful of people can make a difference. Maybe all you do with them now is click a button to vote for an NPO, but in a few years maybe they join one of these groups on their own because they want to help.
And that’s what the point of parenting is, really, to open your kids’ eyes to the options. I don’t know if they’ll be scholars just because they get a treat for a good report card. I don’t know if they’ll be athletes or team players in life just because they play sports now. I don’t know if they’ll grow up and volunteer on their own. But I do know it’s my job to give them the seeds for those ideas to grow and blossom later.
Vote now through August 16 for your favorite charities! Go to the Toyota 100 Cars for Good page on Facebook to access the full list of non-profits and search them by voting date, location, or type of charity. It’s quick, it’s easy, and it’s a great way to show your kids that helping others is easy!
100CarsForGood
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