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Teach the joy of giving
beyond holiday season

Entering the holiday season, there is much for adults, as "Keepers of the Holiday Spirit," to remember. As we devote time, love and boundless energy in telling time-honored stories to our children, we are reminded about the greatness of many individuals before and after the miracle of Jesus' birth: the genius of Einstein; the saintliness of Mother Teresa; the wisdom of Confucius; the wonderful common sense of Ben Franklin. Yet the most important story and lesson we can share with our families is that extraordinary service to our fellow human beings and our community is most often expressed through ordinary people, like each of us.

The need to serve those who live with loneliness, poor health, no money or resources, and the challenges of old age are matters that the spirit and energy of our adults, students and children should confront in a way that joyfully connects them to the outside world and the real meaning of relationships with others.

Even though a majority of our students come from a comfortable way of life with most of their material needs readily met, paradoxically, they are strangers to many truly blessed events in life. They rarely experience the feeling of laboring only with one's hands, of sacrificing for the good of another, of being generous with time and energy to help the less fortunate, of bathing in the comforting and all-embracing light of service to others.

The holiday season is a most precious time for everyone's heart, head and hands to work together to make a difference in our families, with our friends and in our communities. It's a golden opportunity to seize the moment to make our students heart smart, not just head smart.

In addition to decorating trees, going to parties and going on a holiday spending spree at the local mall, service to others is a very special holiday activity we need to emphasize.

As the "Keepers," we know that the opportunities are boundless: baking dog biscuits for the dogs at the Hawaiian Humane Society; preparing activity bags for pediatric patients at Kapiolani Children's Hospital; collecting rubber slippers and raincoats for the homeless; writing letters to our soldiers in the Middle East and around the world.

By spending time with our children in after-school-care programs, scrubbing the decks of the USS Battleship Missouri or becoming involved in saving the Kaimuki electric Christmas tree on Puu Street, our students can gain an enhanced feeling of self-worth because they realize that their efforts make a real difference to everyone in our society, no matter what their station in life.

Of course, we must not allow these holiday opportunities to ever cloud the true meaning of service as a way of life; these opportunities are not casual events or just a program activity for the holiday season. As the "Keepers," we need to emphasize that what is learned during our blessed holiday season should be practiced 365 days a year.

It makes sense for parents, as the "Keepers," to seek out service opportunities for the entire family. It is not difficult to find a service outlet. Look to civic clubs like Soroptimist, Zonta, Rotary and Kiwanis, who mentor students and work side by side with them in community service projects.

As "Keepers of the Holiday Spirit," we must join with our students and children in such endeavors as serving at homeless shelters, working with the visually impaired, tutoring non-English-speaking persons, reading to small children, visiting the frail and aged in nursing homes or helping do yardwork for a disabled neighbor. There is no better time to start service learning than this holiday season, and no better time to share the spirit and meaning of this season than in a contented home environment with loved ones who all share the same affinity.

As "Keepers," the greatest lesson in service to others that we can help our precious youth learn is to hear with their hearts, see with their souls and be guided by a hand they cannot hold. Our world will be a better place when this lesson in service is learned and is taken to heart by all.

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