CALVIN: This whole Santa Claus thing just doesn't make sense.Why all the secrecy? Why all the mystery? If the guy exists, whydoesn't he ever show himself and prove it? And if he doesn't exist,what's the meaning of all this?

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HOBBES: I dunno. Isn't this a religious holiday?

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CALVIN: Yeah, but actually, I've got the same questions aboutGod. BillWatterson

Seven years ago, Muncie, Ind. businessman Alan Holdren andhis wife Chris decided that they did not need anything forChristmas. They had stashed $550 in the sock drawer for theirown gifts, but they decided instead to take that money and buyChristmas for a family in need. Since Chris was a teacher at alocal high school, she was very aware of both the families withneeds and the families that had nothing.

The Holdrens picked one family that they knew would not haveChristmas and bought a present or two for each family member. Theydelivered a lighted Christmas tree, a Bible, a $50 gift card for aChristmas dinner, and said a prayer with the family. Then they wenthome to spend the day with their two daughters.

Other people heard about Al and Chris's idea and approached Alabout doing the same thing the next year. Al has a few friendswho are principals at local schools, and so he began contactingthese folks in November to determine a few families inneed.

The second year, Al, Chris and a few volunteers providedChristmas for nine families. They used the same format from theyear before and once the presents were delivered, they all returnedhome to spend time with their families.

After that Christmas, something amazing started tohappen. Al was in a business group and many of the businessowners asked to help fund more families. Each year the program,named SecretFamilies, grew and grew.

As a board member of this now-official 501(c)3 organization, I amamazed and impressed by the organized chaos that happens the firstSaturday of December every year. We recently had more than athousand volunteers providing Christmas to 176 families. Theoriginal format is still the same–with $550 taking care of allthe presents and food for the family. They still get a tree, aBible and prayer, but now there are multiple teams that handle eachfamily.

The day starts at 5 a.m.. Hundreds of people gather at thelocal Meijer in Muncie and listen as Al tells the story ofSecret Families. Most of the “shopping groups” are families orsmall groups from local churches or businesses. Each shoppinggroup gets a list with information about the family–no names, butinformation about how many parents, children, their ages and whatthey need. Clear numbered trash bags are used to collect thegifts, which are purchased from Meijer and loaded into a pick-uptruck. As the truck begins to fill with gifts, the vehicle isdriven next door to Toyota Scion ofMuncie.

At Toyota, hundreds of people are set up at wrappingstations. The trash bags are unpacked and each gift is wrappedand returned to the numbered bag. Then all the bags marked foreach individual family are taken to the loading station in a tentbehind the main Toyota building.

Stage Three is completed by delivery teams that drive to therecipients' homes, pre-marked with a red bow in the days leading upto the event. The families are contacted prior to the event tolet them know they have been chosen to allow for a quickdelivery.

Once all the families have their gifts, the entire group returnsfor a meal at Toyota of Muncie, where we tell stories, shed tearsand by 9 pm, all the Santas and Mrs. Clauses go home to starttheir plans for next year's Secret Families.

This year, an NBC news crew showed up so I think Al'ssecret might not be so secret anymore.

Merry Christmas!