Individuals Paying It Forward

Every year my company celebrates Christmas with dinner at a historic restaurant in Massachusetts and an exchange of gifts. Rather than buy each other yet another coffee mug, we buy a toy that reminds us of the recipient. For example, we have a women from London working with us. Last year her "Secret Santa" bought her a toy tea set. During the party we open the gifts together and everyone gets a great laugh from the gifts we've exchanged. At the end of the party, we gather up the toys and donate them to a charity. We've been doing this for the past five years. Its a great way to enjoy the holidays and provide a gift to a child who might now have received one. When one of my coworkers recently returned to Colombia she phoned to tell us about an orphanage where the children were absolutely destitute. She describes them as being the "poorest of the poor". It is not just that they have no toys, these children do not even have shoes and many can't go to school because they don't have supplies (they must have paper and pencils in order to attend). To try to help a little, my friends and I each selected one or two children from a list of names and ages and bought them gifts. I had a great time buying clothes, shoes, toys, school supplies and a couple bags of candy to send to my child. In the end we collected eight big boxes full of gifts. I know I'll never meet these children, but I will sleep a little better tonight knowing I made a very small contribution to their welfare.

Lisa