Remember Others

Christmas is the time of year to remember others. Even though you should help others all year, now it the time!

Look around your neighborhood for places and new ways to give to others. Shelters need donations of blankets, gloves, hats and socks. Coat drives are taking place all over. Animal shelters need old towels and pet food donation.

Other places know of those in need and can take your monetary donations and get them straight into the hands of a person you want to help.

Your mailbox should be over flowing with requests to become a member to all sorts of charities. Pick a new one this year and send the $10 or $20 they request. Add them to your list. If you plan to have these donations as part of your Christmas shopping budget, you will not even feel the difference, but others will. And they will appreciate you for it.

Last Day for ELMO

Today is the last day to submit a nominee for the VERY NICE PERSON of 2006! The winner will receive a new TMX Tickle Me ELMO doll from the Very Nice People Society. Why submit the name of an adult who has touched your life? Have your parents help you.

Remembering to Give and Not Just Take

I received a letter the other day that really touched my heart. A twelve year old boy was asking for a gift from Santa to give to his mom. He knew what she wanted, but didn’t know how he could get it on his own. It was just him and his mom.

Children should definitely be getting their parents gifts too. You don’t have to go to a store and buy an expensive gift. They don’t want or expect that from you. They want to know that you have received the real meaning or Christmas and not forgotten to give yourself.

Do things for your parents, make them gifts, do extra chores around the house. Anything you can think of. Ask each of your parents to help you get a gift for the other. You can do chores to make extra allowance to pay for the gifts yourself.

If you have only one parent, ask another adult to help you. Grandparents, teachers and friends parents can assist you if you ask.

Use Christmas as a day to give to your parents instead of just expecting from them.

Giving to Others

I have been receiving lots of letters. Some only ask for things for themselves, but I am most impressed with those who ask for others. I love to see a child put the needs of other above themselves.

If you would like to give to others this season, there are many ways to do so. One is to look for toy collections. Many organization do toy drives to give to children in needs.

Some churches have giving tress. This is a tree with paper ornaments you remove. Each ornament is a gift request. The gifts will be for people in the parish who cannot afford a Christmas without your help. Each ornament will have some information for picking a gift for the person in need.

Churches also have knowledge of families who need help in case you can give more than just a gift. These families also may need food for a Christmas meal.

Another way to help is too look around your own neighborhood and see who may need help. You do not need to wait for people to ask for help. Some older people may be alone. Even if their families visit them for the holidays, they would love to be remembered by you too.

So look around and help those in need. Christmas is about giving, not just receiving.

Santa's Pet Promise

I am getting tons of letters asking for new kittens and puppies. Santa’s policy is to check with the parents before this kind of gift can ever be given. This goes for kids and adults.

As much as people love pets, they do not appreciate getting a new pet as a surprise. You should always let the person who will be the owner of the pet, make the decision as to whether or not the time to get a pet is right.

Christmas day is not the best time receiving a pet either. Animals love to find new homes, but they are frightened and nervous entering your home the first time. The holidays are not the best time to bring them home.

If you want a pet this year, ask your parents for a “Santa’s Pet Promise”. I am promising that each person who wants, and who should get a pet this season, can pick one up right after the holidays end.

I have been in contact with several shelters all over the world and they all promised to have a huge assortment of dogs, cats, rabbits, you name it, ready in January for you to choose from.

Check our www.VeryNicePets.com for details.

Letters

The letters from kids all over the world have been coming in by the hundreds. If you haven’t sent one, do so soon. We don’t want it to get here too late. I don’t have time to send letters back to everyone, but if you want one from me, tell your mom or dad to stop by the site for instructions how to get one.

Hope You Had a Terrific Holiday

Hope everyone celebrated with their family and friends and had a terrific holiday. I spent the day with Mrs. Claus, our family, our friends and neighbors and our pets. The cats especially love the left over turkey.

Today I start my busiest time of the year. I will be traveling the world to meet children and find out what they really want for Christmas. I plan to make a few trips to mall, schools and hospitals. I cannot always see everyone, but know if I miss you, I am thinking about you.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving...

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. What are you thankful for? A lot of people think of Thanksgiving as the beginning of Christmas, but it is more than that. It is an American holiday.

The first settlers celebrated their Thanksgiving feast after traveling to the new world to seek religious freedom. The same freedom this country has fought so hard to keep all these years.

A few hundred years later and many people still know the stories, but if asked what Thanksgiving is all about, they will tell you the start of the holiday shopping.

I want you to take few moments and remember what this holiday has its own meaning and is unrelated to Christmas.

Be thankful for something in your life. After you have truly celebrated Thanksgiving, we can move on to Christmas.

ELMO Contest

For Immediate Release

Very Nice People Society introduces the Nice People Awards of 2006

Staten Island-NY- November 2, 2006: The Very Nice People Society (theVNPs) is introducing the first annual Very Nice People Awards.

These awards are designed to acknowledge people in our communities whose everyday actions improve the quality of life for those around them. They are parents, teachers, professionals, volunteers, etc.

This December 6th, the Society will be awarding the Person of the Year with a new TMX Tickle Me Elmo doll, delivered in time for the recipient to deliver it to a child of their choosing.

Twelve finalists will be chosen by the society. One will be selected by our resident Santa to be awarded the prize and profiled on our website and in our December issue of Proud Parents Ezine.

Eleven runner ups will be chosen and included in the awards journal to be published in March 2007.

To nominate someone, please visit the website: www.VeryNicePeopleSociety.com for details.

This event will take again next December. Nominees will be chosen throughout the year of 2007 on a monthly basis to be included in the finalist at the end of the year.

The Very Nice People Society was established in 2002 by a brother and sister team from Staten Island, New York. Mary-Ellen and Nick Rozak have been active members of their own societies, doing what they can along the way to make this world a nicer place. They expanded the society in 2006 and developed the website. In October, the Society launched Proud Parents Ezine, an online magazine devoted to raising children with confidence and self esteem. The Society is also active in animal rescue and social awareness issue such as organ donation which affected their family.

For more information visit: www.VeryNicePeopleSociety.com, PO Box 141241, Staten Island, NY, 10314, 718-981-6702 (t), 801-981-6705 (f), 866-981-VNPS, office@theVNPs.com