108. Why You Should Make Service Part of Your Family’s Holiday Traditions (and Ideas to Make It Happen)

The holiday season can be busy and full—but it can also be deeply meaningful. In this solo episode I'm sharing why the holidays are the ideal time to build service into your family traditions, and how simple acts of kindness can bring more joy, connection, and purpose to this time of year.

You’ll  learn realistic, doable ways to serve together as a family—whether you have toddlers, teens, or grown children. I also share lots of stories and give many meaningful ideas that you can easily fit to your own family and create memories that will last.

If you’ve been wanting a holiday season that feels more connected, more grounded, and more meaningful—I hope after listening to this episode you will be inspired for how you can use service traditions to make it happen.

Links mentioned in the episode:

JustServe Website

Light the World Website

Follow the podcast on social media:

Do Something More Instagram

Do Something More Facebook

Do Something More YouTube

Transcript

Melissa: The holiday season is coming up.

It can be a busy time for many people, but it can also be a joyful and exciting time. And I want to add to that joy and peace that we all want to feel during the holiday season by sharing with you today why you should make service part of your family's traditions.

And I'm of course going to give you lots of ideas for how you can make that happen and share a few good stories from my family's experiences in doing service during the holiday season.

Welcome to the Do Something More podcast,

the show all about service where we highlight the helpers who inspire us all to do something more.

If you're passionate about nonprofits or looking for simple ways to volunteer and give back to the causes that matter to you,

this is the podcast for you.

I'm your host, Melissa Draper.

Stick around and I'll show you all the many ways anyone can truly make a difference in our world today.

Hello and welcome to another episode of the Do Something More podcast.

Today, it's going to be just me, your host, Melissa Draper,

talking about service and our family's holiday traditions.

This is a topic that is very close to my heart, serving during the holiday season,

and even more specifically,

serving together as a family.

Now, I know the holidays can be full, they can be busy,

and for many of us, they can come with a whole set of expectations.

So I'm not trying to add to any of that in this episode, but I do want to talk today about why this upcoming holiday season is actually one of the biggest, best, and most meaningful times to bring service into your family life.

And I want to give you some simple, realistic, doable ways to make that happen,

but that don't add any stress to an already full season.

Because if there's one thing I have shared often here on this podcast,

it's that service does not have to be big and complicated to be meaningful.

And the holidays are full of opportunities to invite in small,

beautiful moments of connection,

compassion, and joy with your family all through the service that you can give together.

So today on this episode, I'm sharing first why the holidays are such a powerful time to serve as a family, why it's a great idea to make it part of your family's traditions.

And.

And of course, after I give you my whys, I'm going to share some doable ways you can make that service happen.

Whether you have toddlers,

teenagers,

young adults, your grandkids,

whatever form of family you have, whatever stage you're in,

there are doable ways that you can make Service a part of your family traditions let's get into this episode.

So first I want to give you the why?

Why are the holidays the best time to serve as a family?

Why is forming a tradition of serving each year a good idea?

Well,

the holidays naturally bring with them a season of reflection, of noticing the people around us.

Even when everything feels busy, there's still that something in the air, a sense of warmth,

of nostalgia,

of wanting to make things meaningful.

And that right there is a reason why this season is so beautiful for service.

But I want to break it down just a little deeper.

So here's some more reasons why the holidays are special for service.

One for many of us, our hearts are already a little more open, and that includes your other family members and your kids.

There's something about the lights, the music, the traditions. It softens us. It reminds us of childhood, it reminds us of simpler times.

Our hearts are already leaning in that direction of generosity.

And service is a great way to act on those good feelings that are in the air at Christmas time.

And we can let our families experience the power of acting on those good feelings as well. When we serve to together,

we can put what we're feeling, what we're experiencing into action to help someone else.

Another reason our families will often remember what we do during these holiday seasons, not necessarily what we buy.

I know this is a big busy time that we're fulfilling those Christmas wish lists,

but I'm sure as we all look back on our own childhood holidays or on the own holiday seasons that have been the most meaningful to us.

And while we may remember a few special gifts or things we received many times, the memories that stick are often the small things of doing good,

of connecting with others,

making treats and delivering them to friends,

singing carols at a neighbor's door,

bringing dinner to a family who needed a little extra support, visiting grandparents or other extended family, shoveling snow.

These are all memories that root themselves deeply because service really can help form identity. It tells a child and really any family member,

this is who we are.

This is what we do as a family.

I know for my own family growing up, we had the tradition of serving another family,

and many times it was anonymous. And I have continued that tradition in my own family. It's a little different every year, how we go about it. But it's not the actual steps and the process that are the tradition.

It's the giving and the serving and the helping those around us that has cemented itself into my memories and now I hope, is working into my children's memories as well.

So we all want to create meaning and traditions during the holidays.

Service is a great way to accomplish that.

And finally, I think one of the biggest whys is the world needs. It needs service and needs service during the holiday season.

For many families, the holidays are a joyful time,

but for many others, they are lonely,

hard,

or financially heavy.

Needs become more pronounced during this time of year for many people,

which means that small acts of service have an especially deep impact.

The good that the small acts of service and love your family can give can truly last a lifetime for someone else.

So when we serve together as a family during the holidays, we're doing more than just adding something to our calendar.

We're living the meaning of the season.

And there are so many opportunities to fulfill that need that is in our world right now, right today, this holiday season.

So how can we go about doing that? What are some ideas for you to make this happen?

So I want to give you a bunch of those ideas.

And I grouped the ideas that I'm going to share today in three different areas.

So I am sharing a lot of ideas here in this episode.

I do not want anyone that's listening to feel overwhelmed by what I share here today.

I'm hoping that maybe you will hear just one of them that rings true to you or sounds like something you would like to do and you'll think, hey, I could do that or our family could do that.

Every family is different.

We all have different gifts and talents.

Some of us have more money to give. Some of us have more time.

Some of us have really creative ways we have of serving and sharing our gifts with those around us.

Some of us might be a little more aware of neighbors or friends, needs,

whatever it is.

These are all simply ideas. And you can take these ideas and fit them into what works for your situation,

your family and most of them. They're very simple.

They're not anything complicated.

Nothing. Pinterest, perfect.

Nothing that requires a hot glue gun or six hours of prep, because I don't even own a hot glue gun.

But I do want you to help make service a natural part of your life and your family's life,

even during this holiday season.

Real, meaningful, easy to do service.

So here's my first area that I'm going to talk about here for a little bit, and that is to just choose one family you want to lift.

This doesn't have to be a Secret Santa situation or a full Christmas, although if you would like to do that, you definitely can.

That can be a great Way to serve. But this is simply choosing one family.

Maybe a neighbor,

a friend,

someone from your kids, school or church,

someone you know quietly going through something difficult right now and then deciding as a family,

we are going to make their December or their holiday season a little lighter. What does that look like? It could look like leaving a small treat on their doorstep once a week,

bringing over a pot of soup or a meal maybe, maybe once or twice during the month,

sending encouraging notes,

offering rides, childcare, or help in practical ways.

So the point here isn't perfection,

it's just brainstorming as a family,

how can we serve and love and lift another family that we know could use that help and that love?

So if you want to get your kids involved, you ask them,

what do you think would make them feel, feel cared for after you've chosen a family to serve together,

kids can come up with the best, simplest, most heartfelt ideas. Many times I've seen that in my own family.

So as I mentioned earlier, this is a tradition in my own family.

I did it growing up and we've brought it, me and my husband, with our kids.

It's changed every year. It's usually anonymous, the service that we give to another family.

And we've done it with organizations and found a family through a nonprofit organization.

We've done it with neighbors or friends that we were aware of, could use our service and help,

or we've even done it with extended family members who had no idea it was us.

And as I said, it's usually been anonymous.

It's a big secret, just between our little family, us and our kids. We make sure they know that it's a secret for just our family. We don't go telling everyone about it.

We never let anyone know who we served or what we did.

And that adds to the excitement of it. My kids have always loved that, even from the time they were young.

So that means we've done a lot of doorbell ditching.

And as ring doorbells have gotten more prevalent, we've had to get more and more creative.

But my kids are on it.

We've bought ski ski masks. We made up plans for the best times to deliver.

It's been a lot of fun figuring out how we can keep our service anonymous.

But you don't have to do that in your own family. It doesn't have to be anonymous. It doesn't have to cost money.

You can do acts of service, you can do those small, simple things.

You can let the family know that you chose, that you want to serve and help and support them during the holiday season.

You could even do multiple families. Pick one each week.

How are we going to serve that family this week? How are we going to lift them?

Meaningful service often happens closest to home.

There are people we are all interacting with right now who could use our love, our encouragement, and the reminder that they're not alone.

Have your family help you choose who that might be and then just make it a fun experience, coming up with the ways you can lift their load this holiday season and and serve in the way that uniquely fits your family.

So now here's my next section of ideas for the service that you could do,

and that is to serve the servers in your community.

What does that mean? So think about the people already in your family's life,

in your community, who serve you and your family.

Maybe it might be through the service occupations or people that do volunteer and give of their time.

So this could be a teacher,

a coach,

a bus driver,

a nurse, or school secretary.

Ask yourself, who already gives so much?

Who might be tired,

especially at this time of year, who might need encouragement?

This kind of service teaches our kids something powerful.

That service is not something we always have to schedule.

Many times it's something we notice and we act on those things that we notice.

So it's a handwritten card,

plate of holiday cookies, a text that simply says,

I see you,

thank you.

These things matter more than we think.

So to go along with this idea, another tradition in our family that we've done is we send missionary packages. So in our church, the Church of Jesus Christ the Latter Day Saints,

we have many young people and sometimes older couples in our family or in our neighborhood that we know who are serving missions. They go and serve a mission for 18 months to two years away from their family, sometimes in another country even.

So we pick a few of those that we know each year and we send them a flat rate box, a missionary package.

So last year it was kind of fun because we have a nephew who is serving his mission in El Salvador right now.

And we didn't know if he would get his box. There's obviously no guarantee.

Even his mom warned us that they have said, you know, packages don't always make it through.

But we really wanted to send him one. And we were like, you know what, we're going to give it a try. We do this every year. Let's just try it.

Let's see what happens.

And his mom told me one day that it finally arrived and I believe it was in March.

So it was a few months after we Sent it,

but it was on a day he needed it and it was truly miraculous that he got it.

And I loved coming home to tell my family, hey, he got the package.

So we love sending those.

We take an evening, usually write letters to them, buy a few little trinkets. We put stickers in there or bookmarks or things sometimes that we know they will want to pass out and give to other people because missionaries are serving all the time and meeting people.

So we put all of those little things that will fit in the flat rate box and we also add a little candy and chocolate. It's pretty simple.

And then after we've had an evening doing that and putting those together as a family,

then me and my husband do a lunch date together.

And as part of that lunch date, we go to the post office and mail those packages together. So it's kind of a fun little bonding time for us as a family and for me and my husband as well.

So that's one idea that we've done to serve the servers in our community.

Another idea, of course, is your kids, teachers.

I have my kids write a note to their teachers and I give them a gift card when they get older and they're in junior high and high school,

just have them pick one of their teachers, sometimes maybe two, that they appreciate or they want to give a note to, and they write a note to them and we put a little gift card in there and give that to their teachers.

That's a fun way to serve during the holiday season.

So I had a friend share a tradition one time that her family does,

and they've done this on Thanksgiving or Christmas Day,

but they take some of the food from their big meal that they had together as a family and then they drive around to gas stations and give a plate that they've prepared to the people who have to work the holiday at the gas station.

And I just love that idea. I think that's such a fun family tradition and speaks to her family. They love that tradition.

I've heard of others doing similar things of visiting the fire station or police station.

So, so many great ideas for ways that you can look around and serve those who are serving so many and find a way to uplift them.

And if you really want to keep it simple,

just be kind when you're out doing errands and point it out to your kids and to your family. Thank all of those working during this busy time for their time.

Smile at them, be encouraging and uplifting.

Yes, they are getting paid and it's their job But I can tell you, my own dad was a salesman. He worked in retail his entire career,

and he is one of the kindest, most uplifting people you have ever met. I never heard my dad speak ill of others,

but I tell you what, the stories he could tell of how people treated the employees at his store during the holiday season, there were some doozies sometimes,

and we don't need to be that person.

Encourage your family to be kind to those store workers. Be encouraging and kind of.

That is a simple,

great way to serve during these holidays, especially when all of us are feeling stressed, maybe, or running around.

That can be a great way to just bring some of that cheer, that peace that everyone needs during the holiday season.

So serving the servers is something that doesn't have to take a lot of time,

but it can make a difference for many of those.

And as I said, the service occupations or who are serving and volunteering in our communities and other unique ways,

give them a lift.

Tell them thank you.

My third category of ideas here is pair up with the good things already being done by other organizations.

So go see what others are doing and add your service and what you want to do with the good that they are already creating and organizing.

So a lot of nonprofits,

churches,

schools, are all working to help so many in our communities right now.

You can pair up with one of them to serve and work together as a family to help in that way.

So, for example,

there are giving trees that usually pop up in different stores. You could go pick a name off the tree as a family,

buy those gifts together.

United Way in our community does sub for Santa every year. You can pair up with them one year, many years ago, when I was first married,

I was serving with our young women organization in our church.

And the young women had made these beautiful handmade ornaments and we'd bought a Christmas tree. And so I called up the local United Way. I told them what we had to offer.

Christmas tree with handmade ornaments.

And I asked them if there was a family we could give that tree to.

So they gave me the name of a family.

We were able to, as a group, take that to their home. We helped them set it up and decorated it together.

It was a beautiful experience.

So you can do that. You can contact these nonprofits who are organizing these different things,

let them know what you have to offer, what you're willing to give as a family, and.

And then have those experiences.

There's, of course, food kitchens, there's food pantries that have opportunities to sign up and volunteer those are all great ways to serve.

I know at my kids school during this time there is usually some kind of fundraiser or food drive. We try to participate in those as a family.

And one way that I've done to help my kids feel engaged with those drives and things going on,

especially my teenagers who have had jobs or are earning money, I encourage them to think about what amount they would like to personally donate with their own money, their own cash.

And then I tell them I will match whatever they decide to do.

That helps them feel engaged and it helps me to support them and the school with the good things that they're doing. So that's another idea.

Just Serve is a great website to check out for organizations you compare with or get involved in for those times. Especially you're getting together for big family parties or even over the holidays or maybe Thanksgiving Day itself.

Maybe you can find an organization that could use hygiene kits or school kits and you can have different family members bring those donations to your family gathering and then take some time to put those together.

Or you can find something else that you can make and do together. There are lots of ideas and ways to do that, but I promise you this can be a great way to bring families together.

You're all there gathered together anyways.

Turn it into a fun service activity.

And I've said this before,

as you're thinking about maybe wanting to do this or being engaged in this way,

you are scheduling and planning things already for your family for the holiday season. All of us are. You are protecting dates with family parties and outings and traditions.

So if you want to make service happen,

do the same thing for service.

Pull out your calendar. Pick a day as a family or see what is happening with different organizations in your community.

Plan what you want to do.

Schedule it in and protect it.

Protect that just like you would any other activity that you're doing this holiday season.

So another great website I want to bring up is lighttheworld.org it will usually roll out near the end of November,

but they have some great ideas for service you can do together as a family. You can even sign up for text alerts for some simple ideas on how you can serve and reach out.

So lots of different ways to get involved with the different organizations your community. And again, this does not have to be overwhelming.

You can bring it down to the level that works for you and your family.

But look around your community. See where the need is.

Make a plan and make it part of your holiday traditions this year.

Now I want to give just one bonus tip One way that you can do service and put it into your family's holiday traditions is by encouraging your family to serve each other.

Service to our family is important service, too,

and it is a great way to teach our kids or our grandkids how to be empathetic and to realize the needs of those around us is by looking in our own homes and those that we interact with the most and live with every day.

So one way I have done this with my family in the past.

I came up with this idea one year especially, that we were going to be home at Christmas time. We weren't traveling anywhere.

It was a long break, and I wanted to have a way for my kids to be engaged in good things during that break.

So we did what we called Secret Service buddies.

So everybody pulled a name out of a hat and had someone that was a secret that over the next couple of weeks,

they had to do so many acts of service for their Secret Service buddy.

So every member of the family was doing an act of service for somebody else.

And we encouraged different kinds of acts. I gave them ideas of what they could do,

and it was so fun to see our family members get engaged with that. And it's especially fun when you've got, like, older kids and younger kids.

I remember at the time,

my youngest was, oh, probably just five or six,

and the name he had drawn was his oldest brother's name, who was a teenager.

And I remember he knew his brother loved Starburst,

and he had received a starburst candy bar as a prize at church or some other activity.

And he came to me and said that he wanted to give his older brother his starburst candy bar as part of his Secret Service.

And at first, I wanted to be like, nobody. That's your prize. You earned that. But he was so excited about it, so I went along with it. And he was so excited that he had something he could give himself.

He didn't have to come and ask me to buy the candy bar. He was so into it.

And so he went and I helped him make his brother's bed. And then he put the starburst on his bed,

and it was so fun because his brother had been gone.

And he came home and was just kind of in the kitchen walking around.

And finally he went up to him, and he was like, henry, I think you should go up to your room. Have you gone up to your room? And then a few minutes passed by, and he'd come back and be like, you should go see your room now.

And he'd done that like three or four times.

And my oldest son, my teenager,

just kind of looked at me and was like, I think I know who my Secret Service buddy is.

And I just kind of laughed and encouraged him to play along with it. And it was just so fun to see his little brother so excited and then him going up there and being like, oh wow,

Starburst is my favorite. Who put that there?

So it was just fun. It was a fun experience.

So you can do something like that or come up with some other ideas,

but do service together as a family. That can be another great way to incorporate service into your family holiday traditions.

So I just want to share a few final thoughts here. Now that we've shared a lot of these ideas, I hope I've helped you start brainstorming what could work or get excited about what you would want to do with your own family.

If the holidays are feeling overwhelming to you,

please hear this.

I am not saying here that service is one more thing for your to do list.

Service, though, can be what brings meaning back into everything else on that to do list.

It definitely slows us down.

It helps us connect. It gives meaning and purpose to all these many things that we are doing during the holiday season.

And when we serve with our families,

we're doing more than just helping someone.

We are shaping identity.

We are letting our family see that this is important to us. We're taking our values and putting them into action.

We're creating memories, unforgettable memories that your family will have forever. And we're carving out meaningful traditions that have staying power.

Because let me tell you, service has a way of doing that. It can hook you right in. You're going to want to be back for more,

and it can easily be the thing your family wants to do year after year.

So this year,

give something a try from one of the areas I shared today.

Choose one family to lift or serve the servers in your community.

Or pair up with another organization doing good and join with their good forces and organization.

Whatever it might be.

Pick just one simple thing. It does not have to be huge.

And if it's something new for you to create service and holiday traditions,

remember, it can be small. It can be simple. It doesn't have to cost lots of money.

But serving with our families is truly a great way to strengthen our relationships.

Enjoy our time with each other.

It's a great way to build those traditions and bring meaning to into our holiday season.

So give it a try.

Make service part of your family's holiday traditions.

Thank you so much for being here today.

If you appreciated this episode or thought of somebody that would benefit from the things that I shared here today, please share this episode with them.

Of course, you can also leave a quick rating or review on Apple Podcasts or Spot Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts that helps more people find the show and join this community of everyday helpers trying to do meaningful good in the world around us.

And you can also follow the podcast on social media. I leave links to all of those in the show notes. And as always this week and during this holiday season,

I hope that you can find a way to do something more to help lift, inspire,

or make a difference.