North Tustin, CA:
I am one of eight siblings which makes for wonderful holiday celebrations with all the family. Many years ago in an attempt to refocus Christmas to the spirit of giving I came up with a plan. Think how much we would have if every one of our families saved $5 per month. I diligently printed labels for the jars and disbursed them to all interested family members on Christmas eve each year. Around Thanksgiving we put our heads together and found a family who was in need, not a difficult task.
With the funds, sometimes $700 or $800 we bought gifts and wrapped them up with beautiful bows. At our traditional family Christmas eve party everyone came with bags full of groceries. My youngest brother who is a little round, dressed up like Santa Claus and we piled in our cars to make the gifts and grocery delivery to our special family.
Wanting to remain anonymous, we only sent to the door our family members who did not know the family. What joy we experienced giving and seeing the faces of the recipients. It has been a wonderful tradition for the past 20 years and a great giving lesson for our children.