You run a high risk of being scammed by any number of people if you are putting out ads or replying to them and such . My first suggestion is to give money to a place that runs a soup kitchen during the holidays , you can also take advantage and volunteer there and see how your money has a direct impact on people . These places serve some of the poorest among us , and they are someone ' s family , even if they ' re there alone . You can also donate money to the food bank . Yes , money , not canned goods . It is illogical to give them cans bought at retail when they can use money to buy things at wholesale to distribute , that ' s just basic economics . Many families use the food bank , it is especially important during the holidays when their budgets are tight . You may wish to contact a school near you and donate school supplies to needy students . The principals or teachers will likely know which students are most in need and should be receptive to something like this . When you ' re not well off , you don ' t get to have good school supplies , something that is useful all year long . My last suggestion is to consider going to Babies R Us or Toys R Us or WalMart and seeing if they ' ll let you pay for someone ' s layaway .