I get excited when the Christmas season arrives. I enjoy seeing the lights on my neighbors’ houses when I’m out after dark, and I especially like the opportunity to help the underprivileged.

Feelings of happiness and satisfaction fill my heart while I wrap presents for needy children. This month a group of us gathered at our local police station and wrapped about a hundred gifts for “Toys for Tots”.

Of course, every child deserves to get exactly what he or she wants from Santa, and it gives me a thrill to help Santa provide it.

Some people aren’t so giving at Christmas. Perhaps they did without when they were children, and as adults they don’t see how donating time or money can help anyone. As the Whos in Whoville remind us, Christmas comes with or without presents. But for those who don’t like to give, Christmas is less joyful and more perfunctory.

People I know who forgo donations can be quite generous in their daily lives. They’ll pay for expensive dinners, summer travel and ski trips. They tell me that in their childhood the presents were homemade and inexpensive. If parents were struggling financially, then children made do with what the family could afford.

Other people from financially strapped families have benefited from the generosity of givers. They learned from an early age that people can be caring, sympathetic, and generous and they learned it when they received a Christmas gift from a stranger. There is no better way for a child to learn to be a caring, compassionate and giving human being than to experience such qualities in others.

Those who don’t care to help the needy or who feel they have nothing of themselves to share in the name of charity are not cruel or uncaring people. However, it does seem that their lives lack richness. They are missing out on the joy that comes with being part of Santa’s team. There are intangible rewards – especially when you donate your time – which non-givers cannot experience.

While choosing toys that I would wrap for needy children, I considered the number of children in each family and their ages. I wrapped the gifts as carefully as I could and packed them in my Santa sack. Then I imagined how each child would feel upon discovering their toy on Christmas Day.

I know the combined feelings of expectation, happiness and thankfulness that will fill those children’s hearts at Christmas. I can relate to their emotions because I was one of those children.

Give, even if you don’t feel like it. The more you do, the more you will feel like it. Reward yourself by watching children unwrap their gifts. All the joy and warmth and love of Christmas will be there.

Ronda Bishop is a licensed mental health counselor and experienced parenting educator. She has worked as a counselor, teacher, and life coach for the past 15 years. Questions for Ronda can be e-mailed to Mslrbishop@comcast.net.