What do the winter holidays mean for you?

Getting together with coworkers for that holiday party? Watching your children's faces light up when they open their presents? Spending time with friends and family? Christmas cheer?

But it's not like that for all of us

There's always somebody going through a hard time - due to illness, financial worries or some other set of circumstances - who can't share our joy at this time. Perhaps you know someone at work?

In the spirit of this understanding

For the third year running, DeskDemon is advocating Adopt-a-Family to our users. We'd like to encourage you, our users, to urge your organizations to help others. Talk to your manager and incorporate an Adopt-a-Family into your organization. It's a fantastic scheme.

We have put together a how to article and a work sheet to help you help others through Adopt-a-Family. And we would also like to publish your story: Who did you choose to help, what was collected, what did you think of the scheme, and what was the overall feeling you had afterwards.

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The Spirit of Giving: Should Your Workplace Adopt a Family This Holiday Season?

By Lisa Koosis

The festivities of the holiday season manifest themselves even in the most focused of workplaces. Most workplaces have their own holiday traditions: Formal holiday parties, lunchtime cookie swaps, Secret Santa exchanges, or all of these. But for those companies looking for a special way to celebrate the spirit of the season, why not consider adopting a family for the holidays?

There are a number of compelling reasons to incorporate the Adopt-a-Family tradition into your workplace's holiday festivities. For one, it's truly a feel-good endeavor. What could be a better way to celebrate the holidays than by assuring that less fortunate children are able to have a wonderful day too? Beyond that, adopting a family is a great way to build team spirit and solidarity in the workplace and to build your company's reputation for being a community-minded business in the process.

Once you make the decision to adopt a family, it's simple to proceed. Many organizations are on the lookout for companies willing to sponsor families in need of a little holiday assistance. Among them are churches and other religious organizations, schools, hospitals, and shelters. A few quick phone calls will most likely turn up a few possibilities; and, often, even members of your own work team will have affiliations with organizations looking for such sponsors.

It's often best to find a volunteer to coordinate the Adopt-a-Family effort. Having one or two people in charge of logistics keeps the endeavor as uncomplicated as possible. Generally, having two people is preferable so that, in the event of illness or resignation, you won't be left scrambling to pick up the pieces. Having one or two people in the driver's seat also keeps communication lines clearer. Staff will know exactly where to go with questions, and the organization you've chosen to work with will have a sense of consistency and ease of communication.

Whether you adopt one family or half-a-dozen will depend on the size of your company and the number of willing participants. For those adopting a family for the first time, it's a great idea to send out feelers, to try to get an idea of the number of people willing or able to participate. Often the feelers can be informal, just striking up conversations in the lunchroom.

The organization you're working with will provide you other essential information such as the size of the family, genders and ages of the children. Often they'll also provide such information as clothing size, specific needs, and wish lists. Though not essential, these pieces of information can make the process easier and it's something worth asking for if the organization doesn't volunteer this information at the outset.

It's a good idea to get the ball rolling early in the season, when charitable organizations are compiling their lists of families and sponsors. You'll also find that many folks in your workplace will want to begin shopping early, or at least no later than Thanksgiving weekend, the big shopping weekend of the holiday season. So the earlier you begin, the easier it will be for you to have everything ready in a timely fashion. Remember that you are asking your coworkers to donate both their time and money, so you want to make everything else as hassle-free as possible.

Once you've received the specifics of your adopted family, you need a way to disburse that information to the folks in your company who'll be purchasing gift items for the family. One great way to do this is to set up a Christmas tree somewhere in your workplace. It will need to be someplace readily accessible to all, generally a break room or common area.

Have volunteers bring in old Christmas cards, ribbon or yarn, a solid pair of scissors, a hole-punch, and marking pens. Then ask folks to donate part (or all) of their break time to work on the creation of tags. Cut off the front of the Christmas card, making sure there is no writing on the reverse side. To make them even more decorative, use scissors that form a decorative edge. Once cut, each card will form a tag. On the reverse side of the tags, you'll want to write down the specifics for a single child as provided by the organization. These will include gender, age, clothing sizes and the child's wish list, if given. Also, be sure to include any identifying codes given by the organization. Many organizations code the families (such as Family 13-B, Child 1) to make gift distribution easier.

Once the tags are complete, punch a hole in them, tie a ribbon through the hole, and hang them from your company tree. For companies that chose not to put up a Christmas tree, a tree made of construction paper or tinsel that hangs on a wall works equally well. Tags can also be put in a box and picked from there. Staff members can then come and select an ornament/tag. They'll then buy a gift or gifts for the child listed on the back of the ornament.

The tags you've created will serve a dual purpose. They'll serve as information for the person buying the gifts, but they'll also serve as gift tags once the present is wrapped and brought in. Make sure to let shoppers know to tie their tag securely on their wrapped gift so that it is easily identifiable to the organization that will be distributing the gifts.

For large companies, you may want to assign the same child to more than one person so that the child will receive multiple gifts. Put one complete set of these "ornaments" on the tree at a time, with a single tag for each child. This will ensure that every child gets chosen at least once before any child gets chosen twice. Once the tree is empty of ornaments, then it's okay to "refill" it and let the children get picked again.

Be sure to keep track. It's wise to have people check in once they've selected a tag so that you can assure that no child is left out, and for the coordinator of the project to keep a list of who is buying for which child in the event of a lost tag or a staff resignation or anything else that would potentially keep someone who'd chosen a tag from bringing in a gift.

Make sure to get the word out via word-of-mouth, email, company bulletin boards or flyers so that everyone in the company knows about the adopted family and how to participate. Don't leave anybody out, including the bosses. Often, CEOs are willing to donate a little something extra toward the cause, even if they don't have the time to shop for gifts themselves.

Set a deadline for bringing in gifts, preferably a few days before the organization is set to pick up the gifts (or you're set to drop them off). People do forget. There are days off and family emergencies and illnesses, particularly up at the holidays. Build in a grace period but don't announce it. If the gifts are being picked up by the organization on Monday December 13th, set your deadline for bringing in gifts for the prior Wednesday or Thursday. Once the presents have all been brought in, it's wise to match the gifts to the children on the list to make sure that gifts have been purchased for every single child. Nobody wants to see a child left out.

Later, once the gifts have been given, organizations usually send out thank you cards to the sponsors - sometimes including special thank you notes from the children who've received the gifts. Make sure, if your company receives one, to post it where all participants can see and enjoy it.

Whether your office is large or small, adopting a family is a wonderful idea for a new office tradition at the holidays. It creates a sense of holiday spirit and camaraderie that's unmatched, and often brings employees and management together in new and wonderful ways. Give it a try this holiday season.

Lisa Koosis submitted this article in affiliation with www.facsimile.com, a site for fax machines.