KEY POINTS:
One of the nicest things about Christmas, despite the rampant commercialism and the anodyne adoption of Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas, is that our inner Santas are unleashed.
We think about what friends and family might like as gifts, we thank people who've provided us with services throughout the year and we look out for those whose Christmases might otherwise be pretty bleak.
This year a friend put me on to a Salvation Army initiative - Adopt a Family.
This began six years ago when a lawyer at the Manukau District Court approached a Salvation Army officer working there and asked if the officer knew of a family who could do with a bit of help that Christmas.
From that discussion, 500 families are now helped by an equal number of donors. You get the names and ages of the members of your family and you
buy presents for them, as well as contributing towards a special Christmas Day dinner.
Some donors continue to sponsor their family throughout the year, paying for school fees or uniforms or textbooks, or the like.
It's a wonderful idea and even though families and donors remain anonymous, it's a bit more personal than just popping a present into a collection bin.
The focus has shifted from Adopt a Family for this year, but the Sallies say they would welcome any basic food items to help stock their food bank, which is looking pretty bare.
And to those who are the recipients of the gifts, I hope it's not too difficult to accept the help that's offered. It's given with love and God knows, it could be any one of us further down the line.
