This year marked the 2nd Anniversary of our Annual Gift Bag Giving Extravaganza!

I might be overstating it a tad.  We really just get together with our friends, donate some items, assemble them in ziploc bags and drive around downtown Los Angeles in the designated Christmas Van to hand them out to the homeless.

Most of the people we have handed them out to have been very grateful.  And we have such a fun time doing it. So many laughs in the back of that van, I can’t even tell you.  It’s a great excuse for us to get together with a good cause in mind.

The items included in the bags are:
Hygiene Kit (toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, soap, mouthwash, deoderant, razor)
Gloves
Scarf
Chapstick
Tissues
Socks
Food Items (water, juice, fruit cups, cereal, granola bars, fruit snacks, cookies)
Christmas card

I’m not posting this to toot our own horns or say look how nice we are.  It’s just to share ideas for others who want to give back a little.  Even though we are so busy during the holidays, it feels good do something for someone else.  This took all day, and I’ll admit, I was worried about the things on my to-do list that weren’t getting done.  But you tend to forget about that when you see someone opening their bag in excitement and smiling as they pull out their treasures.  Totally worth it.

Thanks to everyone for participating, with a little extra pat on the back to Norma, who organized the whole thing and Hector, who drove us around all afternoon into the evening!