Heather Jack and her family, including her two children, usually spend the Christmas holidays preparing a feast--for others to eat. Last Christmas Eve, they went to a house in the neighborhood and prepared a dinner for an elderly woman and her son, who has muscular dystrophy . They stayed for an hour and chatted before heading home to prepare for a visit from Santa  .  "I think it is that kind of direct experience that many find so meaningful," says Heather, president and founder of The Volunteer Family, a Boston-based organization dedicated to matching families with volunteer opportunities, both during the holidays and year-round. "It's a great way for parents to involve the kids." In a holiday season that stretches from before Thanksgiving to just after the New Year, it's nice to hear stories about people with their children giving instead of receiving. Last December Gary and Debra Danoff and their two teenage sons drove to the Washington, D. C. Jewish Community Center(JCC) and spent Christmas morning in the Center's kitchen preparing a feast for homeless shelters.  By choosing to prepare meals for the homeless, the Danoffs bring together a belief in community service with their love of cooking, "It feels good to prepare food with our kids for other people at Christmas," says Gary. "We want them to know that many people don't have the ability to go to the supermarket and pick the foods they want to eat and pay for them." The Danoffs were in good company. Across the city, at least 1000 volunteers with their children went across the region to provide food to the poor people as part of the D. C. JCC's annual "December 25th Day of Service", now in its 22nd year. The Heathers did all the following things except_last Christmas Eve.
preparing a dinner for a poor family chatting with the elderly mother and her disabled son making preparations for their own Christmas festival visiting one of their good friends in other district