Something we've done

...is contact the chaplains at the jails and prisons in the city. Any inmate who knows they will be incarcerated during Christmas may sign up for the "Angel Tree" program. They give a list of their children (names and ages) and one gift under $50 for each child. Our church takes that list and takes up a collection to cover the cost of the gifts. Then volunteers go and purchase the items, and during the week before Christmas, delivers these gifts to the children. They are gift-wrapped, and clearly marked as from "mom" or "dad". Our goal in doing this is not to draw attention to our church. It is simply to give a gift of love and hope in what would otherwise be an incredibly bleak situation.