What the Holidays Should Be About

The tradition of Thanksgiving in my family has evolved to having family and friends gather around the turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie, with loved ones in the kitchen preparing the feast and others on the couch watching the Thanksgiving Day football game. Before we feast, we would go around the table and each person would say what they're thankful for. But often, we would only reflect on this one day out of the year. Afterwards, we would run to the stores that participate in Black Friday to gather gifts for the ones we love and call it the spirit of the holidays. Looking at all these traditions made me think about the other 364 days of giving - and not just to the people we know and love. What about the people we don’t know who are in need?

Don't get me wrong, I love the holiday traditions we have in our family. What made me ask these questions? Family Resource Associates in New Jersey did.

 
We recently had 7 female torsos available for donation and came across Family Resource Associates (FRA), a non-profit organization in Shrewsbury, NJ. Who better to donate to than people who help other people?

What does FRA do for the community? In there mission statement, they state:

“Family Resource Associates (FRA) is a New Jersey non-profit agency ... helping children, adolescents and people of all ages with disAbilities to reach their fullest potential. FRA connects individuals to independence through modern therapies and advanced technology. Acknowledging the powerful influence of the family, we remain committed to them by offering both support and education.

FRA assists individuals of all ages who have developmental delays or disAbilities as well as acquired disAbilities. FRA provides home-based early intervention for infants, therapeutic recreation programs and assistive technology services, along with family and sibling support groups.”

  
While working closely with the staff to donate these forms, it made me realize the staff behind the wonderful organization practices the spirit of giving every day. We at DisplayImporter.com would like to salute the FRA and the services they provide to the community. They are one of many that show us giving isn't limited to one day out of the year.

You may think - why would FRA need mannequins? FRA has a thrift store that’s supported by donations to raise money for the many programs they run. With the mannequins DisplayImporter.com donated, they are able to use it to display clothing, jewelry and other apparel needs in their clothing section of their store. Mannequins are proven silent salesmen and utilizing them would help FRA sell more clothing and raise more funds.

   
FRA states that 94% of all money raised goes directly to support their programs which makes them a worthy organization to donate to. FRA also has other opportunities such as volunteering hours, but if you are not in the area and would like to donate items, you can find a local charity group in your community to donate to. CharityNavigator.org can help you find a reputable local charity that will use your donations to give back directly to the community.

Thank you for giving Family Resource Associates. We truly honor your work.