Who doesn’t love a good Advent calendar? There’s just something so satisfying about opening a little door every day during the chilly month of December and having its tiny contents bring you some warmth.
Whether you prefer yours to be stocked with chocolates, booze, socks or books, there are now Advent calendars for seemingly all ages and interests these days. Now, there’s even one for people who prefer giving over receiving at the holiday season.
An ingenious influencer on Facebook has come up with something she’s calling a Reverse Advent Calendar as a way to help you feel good every day in December by giving back in a meaningful way. Check out the post from Passionate Penny Pincher, which went up on Nov. 15.
As you can see, her reverse Advent calendar tells you to add a food item to a box every day in December, leading you to have a container full of 24 items by the time Christmas comes. Then, to cap the whole thing off, you’re supposed to take the box to a local food pantry.
That’s a gesture that’s even better than eating 24 tiny chocolates leading up to Christmas if you ask us!
The items chosen by the Passionate Penny Pincher to fill your reverse Advent calendar donation box are inexpensive and easy to find, which makes sense given the influencer’s overall goal of helping her readers save money. In fact, you probably have many of these items in your pantry already. And if you want to swap some of them for alternate donation items, the end result will be just as satisfying when you drop off your box of food.
Word about the idea of this reverse Advent calendar is already spreading online. Just four hours after Passionate Penny Pincher had put it up on Facebook, the post had been shared about 200 times.
If you don’t already have a family tradition of giving back during the holidays, this could be a fun and easy way to start one!
This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Checkout Simplemost for other great tips and ideas to make the most out of life.