It's a really good idea, and I think that other people should get on board - provided that they're not already doing charity work this Christmas.

Every year for the past 5 years, my wife and I throw a Christmas party for an entire school here in Costa Rica. This school is for children whose families are in the extreme poverty level, and oftentimes, the only food that they eat for the entire day is what they get at school. So, we throw a party, have some entertainment, feed them some good food, give them presents, and give their mom a basket of food that will last about a month (I've yet to see a father show up to the parties - seems the majority of these are single mothers). All of this gets pretty expensive, but we enjoy doing it a lot.