Sharing this Holiday Season

My son’s Christmas wish list brought a smile to my face. Stuck at the top of my desk, Aaron had carefully listed the gifts he wanted from Santa: “Archery lesson, Etch-a-sketch, Park Zone Mustang (electric plane), flight joystick, X-zylo Launcher…” were among the suggestions on the list. “A Barnes & Nobel gift card, I-Pod, Yu-Gi-Oh trading cards, and unsweetened chocolate for the Christmas stocking, please”, Aaron had written.

Children look forward to the holidays with such excitement and anticipation. I was amused at his list and great ideas for his Christmas gift, however, I also would like him to think of others less fortunate.

I thought it would be a great idea to pick a theme of how you can share with others this Holiday season. Here are some ideas you can adopt either as a family or as a group.

1)Invite a guest for your Christmas dinner, some one who is unable to make it home for Christmas. There are lots of international students in the city who are unable to go home.

2)Roll your sleeves up and serve up either breakfast or lunch on Christmas day at a soup kitchen.

3)Have a Food bank drive, at the Office Christmas Party or at a gathering of family and friends, get everyone to bring something that can be donated.

4)Sponsor a family for Christmas. My family and some friends have done this in the past. It was so gratifying to do this for someone less fortunate. It was single mother with 2 kids; we got their list and pooled our money and went shopping; providing from breakfast, lunch, dinner and their presents for Christmas.

5)Pool funds for a good cause; The Union Gospel Mission is a non-profit urban relief organization serving the Lower Mainland, providing hope for the hungry, hurting and homeless since 1940.

While you plan for the Holidays, remember others who are less fortunate.