Family Holiday Get Together Advice

First I need to ask what part of Canada. I am from ALberta and married a man from Idaho. That was over 47 years ago, so you know I am older than you, but this is what we do as a family. When my parents were alive, we had get togethers, but, then when they past on, it has only been with our own 8 children and their children. There are about 50 of us when we do get together and we use to buy for everyone but the expense of it all is too much, so we put a $5 limit on and everyone buys a unisex present, has to be nice, not a white elephant and we put the emphasis on what the True Meaning of Christmas should be about. We go to a planned place, it use to be our home but since we are in a retirement setting, we either rent the Clubhouse or go to one of our families home that has a big enough room to handle us all. We have PotLuck and it is surprising how well our get togethers have turned out. Some of our family have been married more than once so we have step children and grandchildren to deal with, but, since I don't believe in the IN-LAW thing, we are one Big Happy Family. Don't know if this helps but would love to hear from you......"Families Are Forever" and it sounds like you have one.....

We do a name exchange and draw names for the adults and kiddos and only buy for that person. We spend $20.00 per person. It has helped our holiday budget tons.
I think your idea to give to a charity in the name of the families is a great idea and I would suggest it now before everyone gets into the buying frenzy.

I would pose a theretic question to each of your siblings. Suggest a change and some ideas and wondering if they have ideas or if they like it as it is with no change. My sister did that for us and it took about 3 years, but the change was great. We now help in a soup kitchen for the homeless and donate (no specific amount) money to go to a family in need rotating who collects and chooses the family each year. A friend of mine gave the suggestion to us. And it has turned into a huge thing as her father runs his own company and people from work donate money also. It is a wonderful thing for our kids to see and appreciate what they have.

But start with an email or phone call of "what do you think" don't push it, I had one sister in law who loves receiving gifts, and we put it off until she finally came and said "ok let's do it"
Good luck

We are also thinking about doing something like this in our family since money is tight. I think it will be good for my kids to see that they are more blessed than they realize. Or maybe I will realize it, because I probably feel more this way than my kids. They are very appreciative and don't expect a lot. Anyways, we usually just write an email about different ideas and have everyone vote on how they feel. That way everyone has a say and then we make the decision.