If you are looking to give up your chocolate advent calendar this year, we have the perfect replacement; a reverse grocery advent for someone in need.
South Africa (29 November 2021) – We all adore an advent calendar and why not, they bring out the inner child in all of us. As we have gotten older, advents have gotten more luxurious but if that isn’t your cup of tea, a charitable advent may be the way to go!
This advent actually works in reverse, instead of you getting a gift each day, you give one each day. Well, you add one to a box in your home and once it is full, donate it to a person in need.
This is a grocery advent that will mean one family or charity, get a box filled with food to get them through the very financially dry January.
How does it work?
Simple, designate a box in your home, somewhere cool and away from snacky family members (that includes the dog) and each day add an item from the list below or an equivalent. You don’t even need to go to the grocery store to do this, check your pantry and add what you have as long as it is within date.
There are quite a few of these lists around so add and subtract as you see fit but make sure to add something useful each day. Your advent will run from the 1st of December until the 24th of December, so you will add a total of 24 items.
As many of the lists are based in the USA, we have substituted things to be more relevant for local households.
- A box of cereal (oats are great!)
- A tin of tomato
- A box of stock cubes
- A bag of mealie meal
- A bag of rice
- A bottle of cooking oil
- A tin of beans
- A tin of beef or fish
- A box of biscuits
- A bag of pasta
- A tin of corn
- A jar of jam
- A jar of peanut butter
- A bag of flour
- A bag of salt
- A bag of sugar
- A packet of yeast
- A bag of chips
- A box of long-life milk
- A tin of fruit
- A packet of soup mix
- A bag of dry beans
- A bar of chocolate
- A bag of fresh but long-lasting vegetables (potatoes, onions, butternut etc)
What would you add to your box? Let us know in the comment section. You can gift this box to a person in need or to your local charity. You can find a charity near you using our handy list here.
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