There is no question that consumerism has made a significant part of Christmas all about shopping and that is ok, but how memorable have your holidays really been?
Would you like to change all of that with a meaningful shift?
If so, read on and I will tell you something that you can try that has made a huge difference in how I experience Christmas.
With the goal of creating a more meaningful holiday season, Barry Adelman, one of my closest friends, and I created a five step program called Angels on the Street. Three years ago we both introduced the program in our companies and the results were remarkable as our employees went searching for people to help. The stories of the lives they touched will always be deeply etched in our memory banks. The beauty of the Angels process is that it can be experienced by families, friends and businesses.
So here are the five simple steps to creating a most memorable Christmas.
Step one
Organize a family/business meeting and show the YouTube video called “A Secret Gift: An Introduction” that the CBS Sunday Morning Show filmed in Canton Ohio in 2010. You will learn about A Secret Gift, a book written by Ted Gup, which provides an excellent look back in time to the devastation that the Great Depression had on Canton, Ohio in 1933 and the charitable gesture made anonymously by one man. This story is the inspiration for Angels on the Street.
Step two
Figure out the amount of money you can afford to give away in your own Angels program. Hand each member of your family an envelope with your chosen amount of cash. This decision is up to you. Angels had been successful with $10, $100, and everything in-between. I really do not think the amount is all that important.
Step three
Explain the rules of engagement: Before Christmas day, each participant must find someone who they deem is worse off than they are to give the envelope to and to wish them a merry Christmas. It’s that simple. “Angels” have given envelopes to a young mother in a check-out line, an elderly person waiting at a bus stop, a shopper at a community food bank. Other Angels have chosen people they know who are in need. The possibilities are endless. Younger children will need help with selecting a candidate, which in itself can provide a great learning experience.
Step four
On Christmas morning before you open presents, be prepared to tell who you gave the envelope to, why and what, if anything, happened. Film and record everyone’s story and have plenty of tissues available.
Step five
Please send me your comments, results and video and they may show up on the website I’ve created, angelsonthestreet.org.
For more information please check out the Angels website, or my blog, “Angels on the Street” which you can find on my website ifyourmoneytalked.com.
Have a healthy, happy and meaningful holiday season.
Read more posts by Gary Sirak here. Gary is a contributing blogger for JenningsWire.
The online feature magazine, JenningsWire.com, is created by National PR Firm, Annie Jennings PR that specializes in providing book promotion services to self-published and traditionally published authors. Annie Jennings PR books authors, speakers and experts on major high impact radio talk interview shows, on local, regionally syndicated and national TV shows and on influential online media outlets and in prestigious print magazines and newspapers across the country.
