'I will never forget that special gift'

Auburn dale, Florida

My husband had been laid off earlier in the year and had been out of work for several months. I had never heard of The Christmas Jar. When I opened the front door Christmas morning there sat the jar and the book. I will never forget that special gift.

I had the pleasure of hearing Jason speak earlier this year at Stampin' Up Leadership. What an inspiration. I didn't put 2 and 2 together that he was the author of the book until later. He will forever hold a special place in my heart for the joy his book has brought so many, my family included.

Renee Hurn

'I still get teary eyed today think about our Christmas Angel'

David City, Nebraska

I had just gone through a divorce. My son and I had just moved out on our own. We were doing okay financially but things were tight. When I got home from work one night, I went out to plug in the Christmas lights and saw a gift bag and three presents on my doorstep. I tried to pick up the bag but it was so heavy!

When I got it inside, I opened it up and lifted out the jar of change. I immediately started to cry! Who would do such a thing for us! The presents were the Christmas Jar books and a Christmas board book for my son. I still get teary eyed today think about our Christmas Angel! This year we are giving a jar and hope to bring joy to someone else's Christmas!

'Upon opening the card and reading this strangers words, I was instantly humbled'

Saint Joseph, Missouri

At an all time low point in my families life, someone handed me a "Christmas Jar" from an anonymous person that had included some cash and a personal note inside. Upon opening the card and reading this strangers words, I was instantly humbled, and I felt so blessed and thankful that someone felt so moved as to go out of their way during the busy holiday season to send some hope our way.

I knew it may not have seemed like a huge gift to some people, but after barely scraping by for many months, it was an unexpected and generous gift to my family and I. The note spoke of the confidence this person felt that I would someday, somehow, when able, pay it forward.

Two years have passed now, and while things are not always smooth, we have been abundantly blessed in many ways, our knowledge of the true reason for the season being one of them.

This is our second year being able to collect our change and to share with other families, to hopefully offer the same sliver of faith and hope, maybe a small promise of better days ahead, or even beacon of light in an otherwise dark room. All of the things this "Christmas Jar" brought to myself and my family.

'My 1st recipient was a lady that I've known since middle school'

Stephens City, Virginia

This is my first year participating in the Christmas Jar. Last year I read the book & absolutely loved the idea! I cleaned out an old pickle jar & started collecting change. 

My 1st recipient was a lady that I've known since middle school (we are in our 30's). She had a rough life growing up & is a single mom to 3 girls who has never received child support. She has held 3 jobs at the same time to provide for her family. She has a strong faith & always pushes forward. She is my HERO! Always there to help me in my time of need even though she's going through worse stuff than me.

When I started the Christmas Jar, I knew instantly she was getting the 1st jar. My dear friend lives in an apartment so I had to brainstorm how to get the money to her. Obviously I could not leave a jar in front of her apartment door. I decided on a VISA gift card. I mailed the gift card with the book. 

My dad has known my dear friend a long time too. He was moved by my Christmas Jar & he decided to send her $400!! Dad knows how hard my friend works & knows she would be so appreciative.

Luck would have it my friend reached out by text & FB to me as soon as she received her package. She asked if I sent the package. She said she was crying so hard her girls thought something bad happened. She was so thankful for the gift. I responded God must have known her need. I was so happy for her & Merry Christmas. I'm sad to say she figured out I was the one that sent the package. 

My friend was doubting if she was doing the right thing in her life. Once the Christmas Jar package arrived she had the confidence again that everything was going to work out. I heard from her today. Their house offer was accepted! She deserves this happiness. 

I am thankful for Jason & the Christmas Jars. My heart is happy knowing things are falling into place for my dear friend. 

That is what Christmas is all about! I love you my friend & hero. Merry Christmas to all! ♡

An original Christmas Jar poem from a jar recipient and giver

Sebastopol, California

I wrote a story in 2011 about a Christmas Jar left for my family.

I have given jars each year since. I have recently started writing poetry and I wrote this poem about getting the first jar 

The Christmas JarJohn Lyhne

Our final breaking point,
Hope, totally dried to dust.
Future bleak as ugly evening news,
alone as we can be.
Sealed off from the outside,
held inside by terror.
Unable to reach outward,
unable to be reached into.
Christmas and we’re all alone.
Alone, together but separate,
our daughters with us, alone.
Wife, mother, home from hospital.
Her spirit nearly broken,
with it goes mine.
No more nourishing hope.
We exchange halfhearted gifts.
Going out the front door,
a jar, book, note lying there.
Jar anointed, label handwritten,
“Christmas Jar” it reads.
“For your family, a jar,
a token of new hope”!
Tears begin to stream,
hearts swell up, pounding,
a renewed sense, connected.
Outside world reentering,
breaching our softened walls,
healing our loneliness,
our prison of desolation.
You cannot quite fathom,
our heart felt elation,
new lightness, a renewed joy.
A small jar, change, a few bills.
A tremendous reaching out,
lovingly, anonymously given,
healing wounds, long growing.
The Book, “Christmas Jars”,
The story of the first Christmas Jar.
A note, left with jar,
Suggesting we save our change.
Save, when we are able,
Collect our own jar of coins,
to surprise a new family,
Another hurting family.
A new “Christmas Jar”,
sweetest ray of hope,
frowns curled into smiles,
a new sense of connection.
We’ll search for another,
a lonely, needy family,
much too easy to find!

'I'm forever grateful you chose me'

Logan, Utah

To the group of teenagers at Primary Children's Hospital 7 years ago:

On December 12th, 2008, you touched my life for the better. I was surrounded by loved ones in one of the waiting rooms at Primary Children's Hospital when I saw a group of you, just young teenagers, walking through the halls. You were giggling and being a little suspicious. You walked up to me and set a big jar of money on my lap and said "Merry Christmas" before rushing away.

I don't remember how much money was in the jar and I don't remember what all of you looked like. But I do remember the smiles on your faces and how you made me and everyone else in that waiting room feel. I'll never know why you decided to pick me when you must have walked passed countless others you could have given it to, but I'm forever grateful you chose me.

You didn't know this, but at that very moment, my precious 2 day old baby was undergoing a life-saving surgery to fix a birth defect he was born with. It was a hard and scary day for us filled with a lot of uncertainty and worry. I want you to know that you were our angels that day. You were our light in the dark and our good in the bad. You turned a negative experience into a positive one. You helped us experience the kind of joy that can only be felt during a hard time.

We were spending our Christmas season in a hospital a couple hours away from home, away from most loved ones, and away from everything else that makes Christmas feel like Christmas, and yet, I've never felt the spirit of Christmas as much as I did that year. You did that for me.

You see, it was never about the money to us. It was about the fact that you made us feel something that no amount of money can buy. You taught us that the gift of service can change a trial into a blessing. I don't think there is anything you can do for another person greater than that.

It's been 7 years, but I think about all of you often. I have always wanted to tell you how much your kindness meant to us and how grateful we are for each of you. We have been able to tell many people about your kindness and we pay it forward as often as we can. The little boy in this picture is that little baby that was in surgery that day.

His name is Krew and we are proud to say he is a happy and healthy little boy. Nothing would make us more proud than to see him grow up to be the kind of teenager you were that day. We all know how much the world needs people like you right now. You are the ones that truly make the world a brighter place.

I hope this message somehow finds you and I sincerely hope that whatever trials have come and will come into your life, that you will be blessed in the same way you helped bless us.

Love,
One grateful mom

'The child then hands someone the jar'

Ruston, LA

This is the 5th year of giving a Christmas jar. We save up all our change (mostly). We have been fortunate to be able to change the coins into bills twice a year. I paint "Christmas Jar" in red & green on a Mason jar, fill it up with coins & bills, pile the grandkids (all 5) into the van & proceed to the predetermined house. One of the kids takes the jar to the porch, rings the bell & runs back to the van.

On a couple of occasions there have been people outside. The child then hands someone the jar, wishes them a Merry Christmas & hops back into the van.

The first 2 years I didn't leave a book; now I do. This year we won't be home for Christmas. I'll deliver the jar a few days before Christmas & to someone I know. Before, I would hear of someone from friends or from church. This year will be tricky. He has roommates & will probably guess where it came from. Oh well!

'Let's put God first in all instances'

Location Unknown

We reside in a small town in New Mexico, that the reason we don not wish to give our names. The Christmas Jar program we have been involved with about five years. We tell others about the Christmas Jar program in hopes it will be taken further in our area.

This is not a program to think about, partner, it's a ... getter done ... program for sure for the wife and I.

Do you have food on your table tonight??? Think about the people that don't have any food.

Let's put God first in all instances and then let's focus on the needy.

'She was trying to support herself and three young children'

Location Unknown

A number of years ago, I gave the book,  "Christmas Jars" to each of my three children.  On the third Christmas of saving their change, my daughter and son-in-law were trying to decide who their recipient would be that year.  My son-in-law thought of a very sad looking cashier who had waited on him a number of times at the local Walmart, but he knew nothing about her.

One evening my daughter and her husband went out to dinner and this lady was working as a hostess at a restaurant in their small town.  The next day at Walmart he made a purchase and got in her checkout line.  He asked her why she was working two jobs.  She replied her husband was an alcoholic and she made him leave their home.  She was trying to support herself and three young children.  Her ten year old daughter had to take care of the younger children when she was not at home.

My husband quickly thought of a way to find out where she lived.  They lived in a mountain community and often used their fireplace to help heat their home.  He said he had some extra firewood and wondered if she could use some.  She answered that she would be very grateful.  He got her address and had to go home and chop firewood.

He delivered the firewood and a few days later left nearly one hundred dollars in her mailbox.

When I heard about their story, I said I would like to send her some money. When I told my other daughter she said she wanted to send money, also. My daughter said she wished she knew someone in another state who would send money and she would have money from four different states.

Having friends in may states, I started calling  and telling them the story. I said I would reimburse them if they would send ten dollars to her address. No one wanted to be reimbursed and I found sixteen friends who wanted to do it.  Just before Christmas my husband was in Walmart and she seemed pretty cheerful. He wished her a Merry Christmas and she thanked him and said it would be a good Christmas.

'You were right the blessing of that gift is insurmountable'

Fort Valley, Virginia

I gave the books away for gifts last year for Christmas never having read the book for two reasons.

First, my eyes were bad and until a surgery saved my sight was unable to do so.

Secondly after I could my scuds was …time. I read the book..donated a gift set to our little country store owners..who feared as I explained..they read the book…then we started another jar.

You were right the blessing of that gift is insurmountable. Unexplainable.. thanks Jason Wright and the Wright family.

'Receiving this really made me feel good and not forgotten'

Fairview, Oregon


When I got to work today to start my long 12hr shift, I was surprised to find a package for me. When I opened it I was shocked to find a Jar and book.

I was just talking to my wife who is stressing being able to give our kids and nephew a good Christmas.

Receiving this really made me feel good and not forgotten.
I thank the LORD and my God bless whoever did this great thing for my family.

Nathan.

'I opened the door to find a jar and book on my step'

Waukesha, Wisconsin

My husband was just recently diagnosed with terminal colon/rectal cancer with a large and very aggressive tumor which had already spread to his lymph glands behind his abdomen. We brought him home after a 3 week stay from the hospital with in-home hospice care with me being his primary caretaker.

He was home for 5 days and I was having a day of crying — it was a little past 7:30 pm when a knock was to my front door only to find no one there. I opened the door to find a jar and book on my step. I looked all around the yard and down the street to see if I could find the person that left it and saw nothing.

It brought me to more tears just to know that someone would do that for my family and to whoever the angel was that delivered it, I just want to let you know that it really meant a lot to know there are still good people in this world and to say THANK YOU !!!!!!

'It was a miraculous answer to prayer'

Merced, California

The Sunday before Thanksgiving our pastor pulled me aside to say he was asked to give me something. It was a Christmas gift bag that only had my name and asked if he could deliver it to me with God's blessings. It was heavy!

When I got home and opened it and saw all the bills and coins inside I was truly amazed! It was a miraculous answer to prayer! I lost my job when our company closed and my funds were quickly dwindling. I had just told my daughter the day before that I felt awful not to even be able to contribute to the family Thanksgiving feast. How humiliating!

But I had prayed every day that God would make a way to keep us going (I have 2 teenagers).

Early Christmas. The person put the book in the bag too…so I can pass it on when I get on my feet.

Poland, Ohio

I read the book the first year that it was written and have given at least one jar every year. My children and I have anonymously given bags of gifts at Christmas to families or children who are in need. The Christmas jar was a wonderful way for us to add to that or to find someone who was I need. 

As an oncology nurse, I have always viewed my interaction with patients especially as an "opportunity" to touch lives. I do feel like my purpose here I earth is simply to edify others and to glorify God. The Christmas jar is yet another "opportunity" to touch the lives of others around us. It is such a wonderful feeling to "secretly" give of your heart.

My children and I gave our first jar to a large family of four generations who had been living together Under one roof.

There were four children and none of them had beds. We got them all aerobeds and a large Christmas jar, as well as the book. The funny thing was, they took the beds back (one of the teens confided to my daughter, not realizing she was the one who had chose them to receive it). They immediately started their own jar.

We learned very early that there was a possibility that our benefactor may not pass it on or they may not use the money for good, but We wanted them to know that God loves them and so did someone else.

This year, I bought 30 books and etched a bunch of jars with the word, "Blessings", and I will be giving a jar and the book to each of my employees at the cancer centers where I work. My hope is that those 30 people will also feel loved and blessed as well. Maybe next year there will be lots of hearts that will be touched by 30 more Christmas jars!

'Our Christmas Jar had come full circle'

St. George, Utah

It's been a tough year at the Stafford house. In July, our youngest son George, who had just turned 7, was diagnosed with cancer. Needless to say, this sort of turned our world upside down. We have to travel to Salt Lake every 3 weeks for chemo and/or radiation. Friends take in our other 3 kids so they don't have to miss school while we care for the little guy. Meals are brought in. Carpool is taken care of. We have seen our lives blessed in innumerable ways by so many people.

No one wants to be on the receiving end and it's been very humbling to realize that you really CAN'T get through something like this without the help of others. And no one waited to be asked…they just helped.

Every year for the past several years, we have delivered our Christmas Jar, usually on the Monday before Christmas. My husband and several others who are aware of our tradition suggested that this might be the year to just keep it for ourselves. But it just didn't feel right.

Then one evening as I was talking on the phone to my mom, the doorbell rang. Sure it was one of the neighbor girls, I yelled at my daughters to answer the door. They pretended not to hear me. So I was forced to drag my bones from my comfy chair and answer it myself.

There, on the porch, was a Jar. And a Book.

I just stood there, shocked. With some effort, I carried the jar, filled to capacity, into the house and announced to one and all that we had received a Christmas Jar. We dumped it out and started counting, while speculating on who the giver might have been. Rolled tightly inside the jar of coins were 6-fifty dollar bills, bringing the contents to over $500. For us. For Christmas.

The funny thing about it: We don't collect our coins in an ordinary Mason jar. I buy slightly larger jars and have my husband sandblast "Christmas Jar" on the side of it. The jar that was left on our door was one of our own. Our Christmas Jar had come full circle.

Our jar, the one we had been collecting change in, was delivered the following Monday to a family in the neighborhood whose husband had recently lost his job. And this time, we knew the feeling of opening the door, seeing a jar and a book, and feeling loved and cared for by an anonymous soul.

Jen Stafford

'We never gave thought to how our pocket change could make a difference in someone's life'

Tifton, Georgia

The door bell rang and my wife goes to the door. She goes because I can't walk. I had a massive stroke of the brain stem on August 21, 2014. Our associate pastor was standing at the door with a jar full of money. As she came in she said that the jar of money had been dropped off at the Church for us. She said there was a website that I could go to and it would explain the "Christmas jars."

What a blessing and such a neat idea. We never gave thought to how our pocket change could make a difference in someone's life.

John David Minter 

'This year a young mother in our community committed suicide'

Chantilly, Virginia

I have given a jar away for many years. This year a young mother in our community committed suicide. My daughter asked if I had chosen the recipient of my jar yet. Instead of giving the grieving father the jar I purchased toys for the 5 year old son left behind along with a copy of the book. All three of my young adult children have jars too. 

We have a boat and it is named "Pay It Forward."

Marcie

'At first I was numb and speechless'

Council Bluffs, Iowa

I was working my part time job here in Council Bluffs on the evening of 12/23/14 when a very pleasant woman approached me and proceeded to ask me questions about my family. At first I was very apprehensive not knowing why this total stranger was being so curious and invasive about my personal life. She sensed that I was a little concerned and said that she would be right back with her family.

The next thing I knew, her husband and entire family came walking in and put a jar full of money on the counter and said that it was for me.

At first I was numb and speechless as to why these total strangers would be giving me this jar full of money. They asked me if I have ever heard of the “CHRISTMAS JARS”. I told them that I hadn’t and she explained that at the beginning of every year, her entire family empties their pockets of change every day into this jar. Then right before Christmas, they are guided by GOD to choose someone to receive this gift. Along with the jar was this book written by Jason F. Wright called the “Christmas Jars”.

I kept asking, “Why me???” I just did not understand how or why they came to me with this selfless gift of kindness. I tried to explain that I was so grateful but did not feel that I could accept it, knowing there are so many people in more need of this money than I, but they insisted that I have it. I tried to explain that I was not being ungrateful, but if they wanted me to keep it, could I pass it onto one of my co-workers who needed it so much more than I, and struggles daily just to survive and has no family.. She said that now they knew for sure, they had chosen the right person for this gift. So this is what I did.

When my co-worker came in to relieve me, I passed the jar onto her and explained the events of the evening and she could not believe or understand it any more than I was at this point… She kept asking,’ Why did they come here? Why did they come here?” The very same question that I am still asking myself over and over.

She is still in a state of shock and says that she cannot believe that this miracle came to her at a time she needed it most. She runs her fingers through the pile of coins everyday just to convince herself that this was not all a dream. She was able to buy groceries, catch up her electric bill and have enough quarters to do laundry for quite some time.

I was so humbled by this act of kindness that I am going to start my own jar for next year.
I would like to thank this family from the bottom of my heart. They have made this one Christmas I will not soon forget. The look of joy on my co-workers face is not one I will forget anytime soon. Bless you……………..

'As the mass ends and Nun is singing I sneak the jar'

Las Vegas, Nevada

The Jar gave me hope.

It's been a tough year in many ways and Our Christmas Jar filled up slowly. It sat in the usual hidden spot awaiting it's delivery. It was finally Christmas Eve and I did my best to fill the rest of the jar that morning which only totaled $62 our smallest amount ever. I placed it in my purse and left for midnight mass.

This is the first year since 2007 that I deliver it alone. I received a text from my 74 yr old mom about mass and she changes from pj's and comes with me. Mom has no idea about the jar hiding in my purse. The usher seats us next to a young Nun. As the mass ends and Nun is singing I sneak the jar that had a note inside explaining our tough year and although it was our smallest jar it was a tradition I could not give up on. I carefully pulled it out of my purse and placed it behind her coat.

Mom kept singing as well as the Nun and I the only eyes watching may have been a young girl sitting behind me. I am sure this young woman of faith will put th is small amount to good use. My plan next year is for a jar doubled the amount or more no matter how tough life is and feeling hopeful for my old delivery team to join me.

It has Always been our Christmas Mission.

'This is my 3rd year and each year I pray for guidance'

Syracuse, New York

This is my 3rd year and each year I pray for guidance. During the summer of this year I asked a man up the street if he might like to help me garden and I would so gladly pay him. He did a terrific job and he needed the money. Then my friend hired him, and her friend hired him. However, even with these small jobs he and his family were still struggling. So I took my jar down to their house. At first there was a refusal but I asked them to do it for me. And happily they accepted it. I know it made me feel good and I am sure it helped them with their Christmas.