With the holidays practically right around the corner, your kids have probably been salivating over the thick toy catalogs and have written their wish lists. Before you start comparing your budget to their desires, put down “time and money for charity” as the first item, and plan to make your kids a part of it.

As long as I can remember, we have bought gifts requested through our church’s angel tree. Even when I was a kid, my parents let my brother and I each choose a tag and help shop for the items. We’d wonder incredulously, “Who wants a toothbrush and toothpaste for Christmas?!” Or socks, or toilet paper, or whatever the practical necessity might be. What a great way to segue into a tough topic for young minds that normally envision sugar plums at this time of year.

I have continued the angel tree tradition with my children. Each takes a tag, makes a shopping list, chooses the items, helps wrap them and then delivers everything. Now that they receive an allowance, my older girls also set some aside a few months beforehand so they can actually pay for the items themselves. Yes, they still wonder just as I did as a kid who on earth wants peanut butter or pots and pans. Having them fully participate in the process from start to finish has a tremendous impact on them, more so than if I had done it all myself.

Even if your holidays will be a little leaner this year, you can always find a way to do a little something for someone in even greater need. Harvest Hope Food Bank, which serves more than a dozen counties, has seen a huge increase in requests all year. Next time you go to the grocery store, grab a few extra cans of fruit or vegetables, a bag of beans or a package of pasta. Take advantage of the buy-one-get-one-free deals or penny items stores offer each week and donate the “freebies.” The food bank also needs empty paper and plastic grocery bags (2,000 a day!) and empty egg cartons – something even the youngest kids in your family can help collect.

Another way my family contributes to those less fortunate during the holidays is to gather items for Toys for Tots. We swing by the clearance aisle at our favorite discount store throughout the year and have found quite a few nice items marked 75 percent off or more. No, they aren’t this year’s hottest toys, but everything we chose is something that my own children would enjoy. I spent $35 – less than the cost of one video game – and came away with 12 items to donate: games, dolls, action figures, vehicles, building sets. Take advantage of sales to get more bang for your charitable bucks.

If you know Santa will be bringing you a newer model of any of your household items (even though the old one is perfectly OK) – think blenders or mixers, cookware sets, bedding, towels or cell phones – fill a box for a women’s shelter such as Sistercare (instead of just dumping it in the trash or at a thrift shop) when you clean out to make room for the new stuff. It’s a win-win all the way around since someone in need can still use your older items, and you can take a tax deduction before the end of the year. Make sure your kids help pack everything up to reinforce that charitable lesson.

I’d love to add to my repertoire of charitable acts to get my kids even more involved. What does your family do for charity during the holidays or at any time of the year?

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