Even though I only subscribe to the Miami Herald’s Sunday edition, there was a huge wrapped bundle of newspaper on my lawn Thanksgiving morning.  (Apparently, this was a special holiday “gift” to Sunday-only subscribers.)  I unwrapped it to find a slim stack of newspaper folded around hundreds of pages of advertising from every store imaginable, designed to incite me into the annual mad Christmas shopping frenzy.

Didn’t work.

Sorry, but I just don’t get excited by the bright red SALE fliers we will be inundated with weekly from now until the last Sunday before Christmas.  In fact, the come-ons seem just as pathetic to me as the prostitutes that line Amerstam’s red light district, desperately plying their trade to the horny masses.

As cliche as it may sound, the real “reason for the season” is about the birth of Jesus, which is in essence, the birth of Christianity itself.  According to the Christian Gospel of Matthew, on the night Jesus was born he was visited by three wise men bearing gifts, which led to the tradition of gift giving on Christmas.  For believers, Jesus’ birth was the beginning of a new era of hope for humanity in that the long awaited Messiah had finally arrived.

Even non-Christians can appreciate the incredible sense of joy and hope this season brings.  Only the grinches among us would deny that it feels good to give.  It feels even better to give from the heart.

With so many families in need, and so many children who wake up on Christmas morning with no home, much less gifts under a tree, what better time to reach deep into our hearts (and, yes, our wallets) to help bring hope to those who have none?

The Jewish holiday of Chanukah also happens to fall during this time of the year.  Although the eight days of gift giving is a uniquely American tradition (so as to “compete” with Christmas), it is also a holiday symbolizing hope for the Jewish people. In Israel, the tradition is to give “gelt” or coins (preferably chocolate).  Some families in America celebrate by giving cash “gelt” to their kids during Chanukah in lieu of gifts.  This tradition was most likely started so that Jewish kids don’t feel left out at Christmas.

Regardless of your faith, the giving of hope to the hopeless is a universal experience.

Fighting the crowds at Aventura Mall for a bargain at Macy’s is not.  I’m just saying.

When my oldest son Adam was very young, maybe about seven or eight years old, he saw an envelope that I received in the mail from the Miami Rescue Mission.  On the front was a picture of a man eating a Thanksgiving meal with a caption saying something like, “You can feed one homeless person for $1.57.”  My son was so saddened by “that man on the envelope” that he told me to send all his Chanukah money to him so he could have food.  You can’t even imagine how touched I was by his empathy and generosity, especially from so young a child.  That year, Adam and I started a new tradition of writing a check together and sending it to the Miami Rescue Mission, a tradition I continue to this day even though Adam is long grown and on his own.

I cannot think of an organization that does more to help the homeless, and restore their dignity and hope, than the Miami Rescue Mission.  Please consider giving as generous a donation as you can to this mission.  You can give online by clicking here:  http://miamirescuemission.com/

Or mail a check to either:

Miami Rescue Mission
P.O. Box 420620
Miami, FL 33242-0620

or

Broward Outreach Center
2056 Scott Street
Hollywood, FL 33022

If you would like to put a smile on a child’s face on Christmas morning, please consider donating to Toys for Tots.  You can drop off a new, unwrapped toy at any number of locations.  Find out where by clicking here:  http://www.toysfortots.org/

Another way you can celebrate the season of hope is to open your heart and home to a homeless or unwanted pet.  The Miami-Dade County Animal shelter is overfilled with animals who deserve a home for the holidays.  The shelter simply cannot keep all of them, and many will be put to death for lack of space and money.  Please consider adopting a pet, and receiving the gift of unconditional love for years to come.  If nothing else, you can foster parent an animal or give a generous donation in order to help keep these animals alive long enough to find permanent homes.  Please click here for more information:  http://www.miamidade.gov/animals/adopt-a-pet.asp

If you really want to get into the spirit of hope and giving, you can also choose to help serve a holiday meal to the homeless on Christmas day.  Fulford United Methodist Church in North Miami Beach organizes a Christmas day meal for the homeless.  Find out how you can volunteer by clicking here:  http://fulfordumc.com/

You can also volunteer on Christmas, or any day of the year, at soup kitchens all over Miami-Dade and Broward Counties by clicking here:  http://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/volunteer-soupkitchen

While I obviously can’t stop you from getting sucked in to the exhausting madness of holiday shopping, I hope I’ve at least given you something to think about.  These are just a few of my suggestions, but you can be creative and discover other ways to enjoy a truly meaningful holiday.  This year, instead of driving yourself crazy to outdo last year’s gift (whether it’s one you gave or received), why don’t you try giving of yourself, your time, and your money, to really do some good?  This holiday season, try giving a true gift from the heart.  I guarantee that the gifts you receive in return will be priceless.

Keep in mind that whatever bargains are offered in the plethora of ad brochures in today’s Miami Herald will most likely be half price on January 2nd.  Just saying.

There will always be sales.  But, there is no price tag on hope.

Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”