Like most families, the Shardells have many holiday traditions in which they participate every year.
Allison and David Shardell and their three children -- Brandon, 6, Jocelyn, 2, and Amelia, 10 months -- decorate a Christmas tree, visit relatives and cook lots of holiday foods.
But the Pataskala couple also do a few things to teach their children to be grateful for their many blessings. They help them pick out food for a food bank and presents for the annual Toys for Tots drive.
This year, for the first time, the family collected gifts for children at an orphanage in Vietnam.
"We want our children to know when they grow up that this is what you do," Allison said. "You help out in the world."
Allison Shardell holds her daughter, Amelia, with her husband, David, while their other children, Brandon, 6, and Jocelyn, 2, sit among toys the family intends to donate to an orphanage in Jocelyn's native country Vietnam.
Allison and David grew up volunteering in their hometowns and knew they wanted to encourage their children to do the same.
The family began donating to Toys for Tots after their second son Ryland died at birth in September 2005.
Every year, the family buys a gift for a boy who is the same age as their son would be. This year the children picked out a "Star Wars" movie for a 4-year-old.
A year after their son's death, the Shardells began the process of adopting Jocelyn from Vietnam. Allison, David and Brandon spent several weeks there in the spring of 2007 before bringing Jocelyn home.
The experience was eye-opening, Allison said.
"Jocelyn's orphanage was very small (and) in a very rural, poverty-stricken area," she said. "The babies slept on wooden platforms."
In 2008, the family sponsored a Vietnamese child for the holidays, but this year they wanted to do even more. The children picked out coloring books, art supplies, hair accessories and candy, which will be sent to an orphanage for preschoolers and older children in Vietnam.
"I hope it gives them something to look forward to," Allison said. "We want those kids to know they are not forgotten."
Allison said she hopes the box gets to Vietnam by Vietnamese New Year, one of the biggest holidays in the county.
The Shardells will be celebrating that occasion in Pataskala with traditional Vietnamese food, she said.
"We want Jocelyn to know she can still be connected to her birth country," Allison said.
The Shardells plan to send boxes to Vietnam every Christmas and hope to one day expand the project so others in Licking County can donate.
They also plan to regularly donate food to the Food Pantry Network of Licking County and the Mid-Ohio Food Bank.
Although they are young, Brandon and Jocelyn enjoy being able to help others, David said.
"It's especially tough for Brandon to go to the store and see all the toys and give them to someone else, but once you tell him they are going to kids without toys, he starts to understand," David said.
The Shardells plan to expand their traditions of giving every year and get their children more involved as they get older.
"They have so much, and, after going to Vietnam and seeing how rich we are in comparison to people there, we wanted them to know they are a part of this world and they need to help take care of other people," Allison said.
