The Christmas season throughout history has been a time of giving. Over the years, children and adults alike have lost the spirit of Christmas and have just enjoyed getting gifts for the holidays.

Two boys, Ryan and Blake Smith, decided to use their birthday presents to make a special donation this year to help give someone else a good Christmas. Both boys celebrate their birthdays during the beginning of December. Ryan turned 9 on Dec. 1, and Blake turned 8 on Dec. 5, and they celebrated their birthday together on Friday, Dec. 5 with a campfire party where they roasted hotdogs and played football with friends and family.

“We told everyone to bring money or gift cards so that we could give it to our church for families that don’t get to have as much stuff as we do,” Blake said. “I mean, we get to get stuff all the time, like all year, and there are some people around us that might only get to get stuff a few times a year.”

The idea started when their mother asked them if they would like to do something special for someone this year instead of just getting a bunch of presents. The boys thought about what they wanted to do and chose to take their birthday money and give it to a program at their church that buys Christmas presents for kids that don’t normally have a big Christmas.

Close to 75 people showed up and gave money or gift cards toward the project. Together, they raised $420 in cash and $120 in gift cards. The money will be used to buy toys and clothes for less fortunate kids in the community.

“It felt really good to be able to help give the money, and now we are excited because the preacher said we can help when they go buy the toys for everyone,” Ryan said.

They presented the money and gift cards to Pleasant Grove Baptist Church No. 1 on Sunday night. The boys are the sons of Angel and Brandon Smith, and they are big brothers to Cade.