A friend introduced me to Mom It Forward and its 31 Days of Service, a special project this month to engage kids and families in holiday giving, volunteerism and service.

Inspired, I selected to do the 12 Days of Christmas project from Mom It Forward, in which you select a special family to give fun gifts to. Our gifts were inspired by the “12 Days of Christmas” song.

Examples of our fun giving efforts include pears and angry birds (an update on the classic partridge), turtle and dove chocolates (for turtle doves), and much more (like Dairy Queen Gift Cards for 8 Maids-A-Milk-Shaking.) You can see the complete list on my blog. However, we will also be giving the family Pull-Ups and a gas gift card because, while the project is fun, it is also a bit serious.

The family we are a helping definitely needs our support. The parents, both teachers, have been laid off due to budget cuts, and the father has leukemia, so we wanted to provide a giving experience that would be useful (gas card, Pull-Ups), but also fun for their four children, especially since the father is  about to start a 30-day radiation treatment program and needs a bone marrow transplant.

Indulge your creativity while lending a hand to people who need it.

You can help this family through GiveForward or by doing some holiday shopping today (Saturday) from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Real Life Church Holiday Boutique.

A limited amount of appliquéd onesies will be on sale, specifically for the family, as well as homemade peppermint modeling compound (similar to Play-Doh), reindeer mugs and other holiday goodies. Also, the family could use size 3T-4T pull-ups, since they have 2½-year-old twins. You can drop off the Pull-Ups at the boutique, as well.

I hope readers are inspired to come out and support this family, or perhaps start your own “12 Days of Christmas” project for another family you know that could use some extra cheer this holiday season. A “12 Days” project needn’t be costly; it really is all about the fun – being creative and engaging your kids in making homemade gifts and spending time together as a family.

Oh, and here are the final details on the Christmas bike ride I mentioned last week: “Lights of Newhall Family Ride, Saturday, Dec. 15. Meet at the Newhall Bicycle Company at 5:30 p.m., with bikes merrily decorated and ride into the Happy Valley neighborhood to look at lights. Very family-friendly, all ages, all-level ride. Great family Christmas fun.”

Happy Holidays!

Jennifer Fischer is co-founder of the SCV Film Festival, a mom of two, an independent filmmaker and owner of Think Ten Media Group, whose Generation Arts division offers programs for SCV youth. She writes about her parenting journey on her blog, The Good Long Road. Her commentary is published Saturdays on SCVNews.com.