My Son's Friend and His Family

I love this!!!! We do it anonymously. Send them a card via mail & say it's from Santa. Any type of gift card would be generous & very much appreciated.

I would NOT give it to her personally or let her know it's you. That would make her feel terrible about herself.

For a few years, we had a friend that we gave gift cards to the grocery store and to Target (it was close to her home) at different times of the year.. Beginning of the school year and spring break. We mailed them to her. I actually had other people address them and mail them from other towns.

At Christmas we again mailed them. They were from Santa, one was from Mrs. Claus, and to toys R Us from the elves. We actually collected from friends and family and collected over $400.!

Again signed by friends and mailed from different areas.

She was in poor health had to have her legs severed and reset.. (yes really) , her husband had disappeared, she lost her job and her car had been repossessed, they wanted to take her mobile home, but she begged them to allow her to just pay something monthly. . She put herself through Health assistant classes and now works in a hospital helping deliver babies! She still has no idea where they came from.

So yes, anonymously will probably be the easiest way to do this.
You are good person to help them out.

Get the book "the Christmas Jar" and read it. It is about a young woman who received a jar of money, and she is a journalist and as she researches it, she finds out about other people who had received "Christmas Jars" of money through the years. She finds out that the tradition started with one particular family who saved their change in a jar all year and gave anonymously it to someone in need at Christmas time. We started doing it a few years ago, and we always give a copy of the book with the jar.

I would say anonymous is the way to go! If they know it is from you, they may feel weird about the relationship, like they think they owe you something.

I would also say anonymous but I would perhaps include a note that says something like "to make your christmas shopping a little easier"

Not knowing how the family would feel I would give it to the mother anonymously. Or, if they go to church, you could give it to their pastor to give to them. I would hesitate sending it thru the mail. It just doesn't feel secure enough when you do it anonymously. If it gets misdirected there's no way to get it back to you.

It is illegal to put it in the mail box but it's not a law that is enforced. Nor would the post office even knew if you did it. What I do to be strictly honest is to put something in an envelope and slip it under the mat with about half of it showing.

It's a lovely idea, but I would mail it to them in an anonymous card. It's not legal to put unstamped, uncancelled mail in a mailbox, which is considered federal property.

You can get a generic VISA gift card though it costs a small fee to activate whereas if you get a store card there is no fee. However, with the VISA gift card it's just like a pre-loaded credit card and can be used anywhere. Or you can give the best gift card of all. CASH!

I don't know how much you're willing to spend but instead of just giving it to the mom you can put some percentage of cash for each family member in different envelopes addressed to each of them, maybe along with a Christmas card wishing them happy holidays. And maybe go shopping with your son to pick out a special gift for his friend to wrap up and leave on their doorstep Christmas morning. I'd probably sign it, From Santa

Hi A.,

How thoughtful of you! I think that a wonderful way to bless this family would be to go shopping with your kids, find a gift for each of their kids and write from your secret friend. Bake them a meal at christmas and put it on the front porch from your family. You could also minister to them if you are religious etc by inviting them to church/sunday school for the kids etc. get to know them and form a bond. GL!

M

How very generous of you and your family, what an absolutely WONDERFUL idea.

I would leave a card "from Santa" in her mailbox with the gift inside. I would NOT let her know that it was you -I know if it was me it would make me extremely uncomfortable if someone gave me money or a gift card like that whether I knew them well or not, so definitely go the surprise route. (yes I know putting something in someone's mailbox is illegal.....I also know that people and businesses do it all the time)

Such a fabulous idea. If you don't want to leave it in her mailbox you could always have a florist deliver a poinsetta to her home and you could put the gift card with that OR you could deliver the plant yourself when you are most definite that they are not home with the card included with the plant.

Personally I would definitely do it from Santa though, there is just something magical about the thought of Santa.

Your neighbor is very blessed to live next to a family as caring and giving as yours obviously is, you are the true spirit of the holidays!

I think the idea is really great except for the gift card. I hate gift cards, if you get one at a store she doesn't like she is still forced to shop there. I would instead tell her your family has decided to adopt a family this year for the holidays and have selected her family to adopt. Ask her to please make a list of what they would like or need, favorite colors and what size they need.
I would include something for the parents also and get them enough food for a nice dinner.
You could make this a community project and invite other familes from the school or church to help out with the gifts and dinner. If you have more people contributing you will be able to get a Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner for them.

I'm a big fan of surprises, so putting it in the mailbox would be great, plus, you would not be making her feel like she has to reciprocate with a gift.

I have a couple families that I pass down clothes to when my kids have outgrown them and I don't think I have offended anyone by doing so.