'Tis the season to be giving

It's that time of the year again! That time when we need to reach out to others and try to help others in some way, so that other people who have it hard will be able to enjoy their holidays. I have been reading about all of these job losses everybody is going through and it makes me sad because I know it means a lot of families are going to be hurting this Christmas. There are so many hardly able to put food on the table, as it is. But at this time of the year, I know it's important to reach out and try to help the homeless and the families who are struggling to get by. They need it now more than ever.

This is something I have been trying to stress to Jennifer. It's more important to give than to receive. It's more important to help others who don't have the help they need. Every year I try to do something charitable during the Christmas season. This year, we're doing three things so far: Donating canned goods to a food drive Jennifer's school is holding, donating a toy to Toys For Tots and sponsoring a child for Christmas in my church's Angel Tree program. I've done the Angel Tree thing before, and even though I could not be there to actually stay, I dropped off the donation and just felt so good inside for doing something like that. (The program is for children in families whose parents are imprisoned.) Of course I want to do more, but there's only so many charitable events I am able to learn about going on in time.

But the big thing I want to do this year is pass on to Jennifer just how important it is to be charitable. I am trying to stress to her the importance of giving to others, and I really want this to be a part of her character when she grows up.

My mom made sure it was a part of mine.

When I was little, my mom relied heavily on charitable help. With seven kids and a struggling income, it was hard for us to have enough food to eat or even presents for Christmas. Many times, charitable organizations, and even our local Catholic church, helped us out. In return, we did the same. My mom got all of us involved in participating in the gift and food drives the church held, and I spent many a time during my high school years volunteering to help struggling families who had no money, clothing or food. Sometimes, we even took food out of our own cabinets to give to others who had none! So I was definitely raised having that sensitivity to others who were not as fortunate as us.

This is something I want to pass on to my own children. I want them to know how important it is to help those who are in need. I have been spending a lot of time explaining to Jennifer that there are kids out there who have it harder than she does. They don't have a Mommy or Daddy. They don't have a lot of toys. Their clothes are old and torn up. They don't have a home to live in, a bed to sleep in or even enough food to eat. This is why I get upset with her when she wastes her food. I don't like waste. And I have told her many times there are people in this world who are starving and don't have as much food to eat as she does.

When we went to donate to Toys For Tots the other day, I had to take the time to explain to Jennifer why we were doing this. It was because we were helping a family out there who couldn't afford Christmas presents. We were helping a little boy or a little girl who wouldn't have a Christmas present if it weren't for us helping them.

She looked at the toy Marine truck we were donating and said, "I wish I could get this."

I looked at her and said to her the same thing my mother said to me years ago, when I felt sad over giving away one of my toys: "That's going to make some little boy very happy on Christmas."

She looked at me and her eyes lit up. She clutched that toy as though it were very special and said, "I want to give it to them."

That was when I could see it. That was when I knew. Maybe, just maybe, she was finally starting to get why we even give in the first place.