Happy December 1st!

It’s the official holiday season, and a countdown to Christmas. It’s also a time to share joy throughout our community. The holiday season is a time to acknowledge our blessings and uplift those around us.

Here are 5 Ways You Can Spread Joy in Boise This Holiday Season:

1. Donate Food to a Food Pantry.

Boise has a share of food pantries that you can donate to including the Idaho Foodbank, Boise Rescue Mission Ministries, St. Mark’s Food Bank, St. John’s Food Bank, Calvary Chapel of Boise, and St. Vincent De Paul Food Bank. For a complete list of food banks, please click HERE.

2. Volunteer at a local non-profit.

Boise is home to hundreds of local non-profits , each doing amazing work in the community. You can help care for animals at the Idaho Humane Society. Organize a group of friends & prepare a dinner for families at the Ronald McDonald House. Volunteer for the Boise Senior Center & plan events. Checkout the list of Boise volunteer opportunities in Boise HERE.

3. Pay It Forward

I remember this happening to me last year — my cup of coffee was paid for by the person in front of me. The memory is so vivid because it brought joy to my day (and my life) more than that person would know. It was surprising yet comforting to feel this sense of joy in my heart. You can do the same, especially this holiday season. You can pay for the coffee, bring a friend food while he/she is working hard (studying for finals, burning the midnight oil at work, etc.), or buy lunch for a colleague.

4. Leave Inspirational Messages to People

Put your Pinterest skills to good use by looking up inspirational messages & print them out. You can place them all on a sheet of paper, cut them up, and place them in areas where they’ll likely to see it. Most likely, this will brighten up their day.

5. Smile & Give Compliments

I can say that when I first visited Boise for my job interview, I noticed how many people genuinely smiled. Eye contact, warm smile, and then proceeded with a greeting of some sort (good morning, hello, or how are you?). Continue the #BoiseKind way by smiling and complimenting someone. Whether it’s the stranger in line & you like their winter hat or your co-worker who achieved a task — freely share your compliments.

This year, Idaho Lottery is encouraging others to spread joy in their community with their #JoyWorthSharing campaign. Their new holiday scratch games are fun gift ideas that’ll bring joy to someone’s life. Even if the scratch game doesn’t win, they can still mail the card to be entered to win one of five $1000 gift packages. If you head to Idaho Lottery social media pages & tag them as you share joy, you can also be entered to win a prize package.

For me, this holiday season I want to give fun yet enjoyable small gifts to my friends, colleagues & family members. Next week I’m attending a gift exchange for work. I can’t wait to see how my co-workers enjoy the scratch games, especially the scented ones! Maybe they’ll scratch & win in front of me. I’m also hosting a FriendsMas post-Christmas with my friends. These scratch games will be PERFECT for each guest as part of small partying gift bag.

This post was sponsored by ID Lottery. All opinions are my own.