Happy Friday from Literacy Connexus everyone – and a Happy Thanksgiving! I hope that this blog post finds everyone healthy, happy, warm, and thankful!

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about the things that I’m thankful for. Now, I wouldn’t describe the past year as “easy, peasy, lemon squeezy” by any means. But, the list of things that I have to be thankful for is much longer than my “difficult, difficult, lemon difficult” section of the year.

Nestled warmly among my list with my family, friends, health, and getting married this year (YAY!) – is Literacy Connexus. Not only are my colleagues the best work-family I could ask for (seriously, my daughter calls Lester Meriwether one of her grandpas), we’ve managed to spread the literacy love across the great state of Texas this year despite the pandemic.

With so much to be thankful for this year, it’s only right to give back this holiday season. Literacy Connexus plans to give back by increasing our efforts to spread literacy to all. We will be hard at work to provide an early learning experience for the preschool-aged children of local refugees with our Ready for School program. We’ll also continue to support ESL ministries and volunteer ESL instructors with our TEX Program and, of course, the blog. And last, but not least, we’re already starting to prepare to fight the summer reading slide next summer with What’s for Lunch? With all of the support and love that the community has given us, as an organization, we feel that it’s only right that we pour that love and support right back into the community.

If you’re feeling thankful and looking to give back this holiday season here are 5 ways we think you may be able to give back this year.

1. Volunteer! There is plenty of literacy, food bank, charity, and meal site organizations looking for volunteers this holiday season (including Literacy Connexus – seriously, please email us!)
2. Invite a refugee or a new immigrant family to dinner this year. The holidays can be a hard time for a lot of people. Spread a little neighborly love and share a warm home, a little tradition, and a hot meal with someone new.
3. Participate in Giving Tuesday this year. What is Giving Tuesday? It’s a charitable holiday that falls on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving (this year it’s on November 30th). Giving Tuesday is the time to give to your favorite charity or nonprofit and help them continue to bless the community.
4. Shop Small! With Black Friday coming up I know it can be tempting to go for the best deal, but shopping with a small business can really make a difference in your community. Shopping small can pay for braces, or afterschool activities, or Christmas dinner for a family. There’s also plenty of opportunities to purchase gifts while intentionally supporting your immigrant neighbors and the local economy. It’s a win-win for everyone. Make your dollars count this year.
5. Keep the reason for the season in mind. This one may be last on the list but, to me, it’s the most important. With all the crazy of the holidays and the everyday stresses of life, it can be easy to get caught up in the madness. But keep in mind that this holiday is a time to give back, a time to show thanks, and a time to be thankful. So give someone a smile, tell someone you love them, lend a helping hand, offer support in your community, and share a little love. Communities flourish with love and support and that might be the best way to give back this year.

The Literacy Connexus blog will be on a short holiday break next week, but tune back in after Thanksgiving for more content.

Until next time, blessings and happy teaching!

If you’d like to give to Literacy Connexus this Giving Tuesday you can follow this link.