Make a Difference This Christmas

This is the time of year when I start thinking about Christmas. Not the tree and garland kind of thinking, but the necessary, time-sensitive stuff.

Every year, my kids are lucky to have a great Christmas. I'm not rich, don't make that assumption; I'm proud to say I can be pretty cheap, and access toys/clothes/extras make me twitch a little, knowing how wasteful it is. I just mean considering the state of the world today, they're very lucky children to enjoy this extent of comfort and plenty.

What is very important to me is that my kids not take advantage of those things. They're aged 4 and 11 so, of course, they're not going to appreciate the gravity of an adult conversation about poverty and homelessness, but I still try to impress upon them how fortunate they are.

It's so easy to forget, while shopping and wrapping and baking, how many, many people don't have a home. A bed. A hat. Breakfast. So many things we take for granted every day, and especially around the holidays.

That is why I started a little tradition a few years ago, before my youngest was even born. Every year at this time, we do something for a person or family to try to make their Christmas better. While the kids might translate my intention as "do something nice or Santa won't come", I'm hoping in the years to come that our yearly practice will have a lasting effect.

We started with making a donation to Christmas Daddies, even if we couldn't afford it. It might not have amounted to much, but taking it from our pocket and putting it in someone else's was the point, not how much the gift was.

Then myself and my oldest son and I would each fill a shoe box with everyday items like toothbrushes and soap, for shipment to kids overseas in developing countries. One year we even sent boxes to soldiers in Afghanistan.

In more recent years, we've changed things to make the process of gift-giving more hands-on for the kids. Every year we save our Canadian Tire money (and we have lots of it, from filling up our gas tank) and use it to buy children's toys. The boys each pick out a toy for a kid their age, and we then drop them (the gifts, not our kids) in a donation bin to be distributed to children around the Strait area.

Another simple gesture is to donate to the food bank. Every grocery day starting the beginning of November, each of the kids picks up one or two non-perishable food items to put in the cart, and when we get home it goes in a box in the kitchen. Around the middle of December, we go through our own cupboards and add to the box, and then deliver the box to a local food bank. It doesn't cost a great deal, but it could make a big difference to someone who needs it.

Something that has proven the most rewarding for the kids is organizing their toys, which we'll be doing next weekend. In order to make room for new Christmas presents, I clean out every toy box, drawer, and closet, and keep only what the kids play with on a regular basis. Everything else in good shape (regardless of how new it is) goes in a box and is taken to a church or similar organization for distribution to less fortunate children. The most important part of this process, however, isn't giving away the unwanted toys; they also have to pick one toy that they really like to put in the box, based on the idea that they're making a personal sacrifice, no matter how small, in order to benefit someone else.

I'm not trying to be boastful. We're not the patron saints of generosity and I'm not looking for a "you're so giving" award. We do small things in order to teach our kids it's important to pay it forward, in hopes that if we ever find ourselves without, there will be others willing to help us.

If you have children, I encourage you to teach them the true meaning of Christmas by giving of themselves in some small way. It will fill their hearts with true joy, the way no present ever could.

If you are an individual in need, submit your name to the church, or to some other charitable organization. There are many people willing to share their good fortune until you get your's back.

If you are involved with an organization that accepts donations for people and families in need, please advertise that need and people in this area are sure to come through.

If we all work together, this Christmas can be plentiful for everyone.