There is one thing not to miss during the Christmas season. Better than ice skating at the Gallivan Center and dinner at a restaurant in the Gateway Center.

More spectacular than the lights at Temple Square or any live nativity scene I have ever watched.

More moving than the best production of a Christmas Carol.

It is to be part of the Utah Flash Foundation Christmas. The week long experience is the most rewarding Christmas experience I have ever had.

It provided me with better insight, more compassion and got me closer to the spirit of Christmas than anything I have ever done.

Who knew that helping in such a small way could pay such big dividendsfi

It started on a Monday night with a massive shopping spree at Wal-Mart in American Fork. You think buying for your own family is a headache, imagine shopping for 85 families. The sizes, brands, style--decisions, decisions.

Our family was given the job of buying for a family of eight kids ranging from six to 18. We were supposed to find a want item (toy or gift) and a need item (shoes or clothes) and had a budget to follow.

There were some tough decisions, buying for eight kids can be stressful. What I thought were cool shoes did not jive with my son Aaron or my daughter Samantha thought an 18-year-old would want. And when we had to find a toy for a 12-year-old girl, well, I disappeared to go check out some cd's.

After about an hour we filled our cart and checked out. The shopping was done--for one family.

One down 84 more to go.

Eighty fourfi

Fortunately more than 70 people showed up to help shop. When it was over 72 shopping carts were filled and four pallets of food were added to the bill.

This year requests for help were up nearly 30 percent more from last year when the Utah Flash Foundation provided Christmas for 60 families in Utah Valley.

Families were selected through an application process at two elementary schools in which are considered some of the schools with the greatest amount of need in Utah County.

This is different than traditional Christmas-help programs because in addition to providing presents for Christmas, the Foundation also provided food and other living necessities that helped families who were had fallen on tough times get through the Holidays and beyond.

"We have tried to supply families with a want item (gift), a need item (shoes or a jacket), and food and hygiene products. It is very personal, we know just what each person needs and wants," said Katie Andersen. "Last year one lady asked for a mattress as her want and any available extra food for her need item. We make sure that if we are buying a gift for a little girl who likes pink and Barbie Dolls that she gets a Barbie in a pink dress."

It was in 2007 when Katie and her husband Brandt, owners of the Utah Flash, started the Utah Flash Foundation with the idea of helping those families in Utah County that needed help.

"Brandt and I funded the foundation. We carry no overhead and all of the money goes directly back to families in the community," Katie said. "We have had some very gracious offers to help us this year. One guy, a friend of a friend started sending things around on his face book list. He has liked what we are doing and in the last few days has raised over $3,000. Amazing generosity even in a difficult economic environment."

In addition to the story mentioned above, the Foundation teamed up with fifi called Santa Cause, who brought addition resources to the effort and help the drive to reach more families.

Shopping for so many families was great and all, but it quickly created another problem. All those presents had to be wrapped. The Foundation called on volunteers to wrap the presents and the community, including the Flash players responded.

Over 100 people showed up to cut, wrap and tape as the Andersen home turned into an extension of the North pole.

Flash players helped organized what presents went to certain families. Attention to detail was critical. If Kyle got a makeup kit, it would be a disaster.

Once all is wrapped, comes the fun part. Playing Santa.

A trip to see the families is an experience everyone should have. Christmas trees with no presents. Cupboards with little food.

Some of the families on the list spoke only Spanish. This posed a problem since the only Spanish I know is "No frijoles" and Feliz Navidad, but fortunately my son recently returned home from a church mission in Mexico City and brought along his friend Scott Fox, who also speaks Spanish to help in the translation.

The first family we visited was in a tiny apartment in South Provo. The woman had two young girls that I guess would have been eight and five and a young boy who was probably three.

The boy was suspicious of us, but the girls couldn't stop smiling.

As soon as the door closed and we walked out in the snow, we heard a scream of excitement from one of the girls that I wish everyone could have heard.

My son summed it up best.

"That was tight."

There is no age barrier for experiencing joy. There is no view quite as spectacular as the sight of the excitement of a child around Christmas.

When we arrived at the next apartment, there is just one person home. It was the mother. Her children had asked the question, "Mom, we have a tree, but why don't we have any presentsfi"

She didn't have the heart to say "because dad is a construction worker and there is no work to be found." Instead, dad took the kids out so they wouldn't be there when we arrived. Imagine their surprise when they came back to find presents under the tree.

We unloaded five boxes of food and supplies and moved on to the next family.

All of the families that we visited had their own stories--health problems, unemployment, poverty.

The Utah Flash Foundation had done it again. Through the hard work and extra effort from so many, it created something that would not have happened unless someone cared --it made Christmas happen.

Merry Christmas. Now it will be for some many families.

"Most of the players and staff that delivered last year had at least one experience where it brought tears to their eyes," Brandt Andersen said. "Many families we helped were touched to the point of tears."

Playing Santa, or even one of his helpers is pretty fun.

There are a lot of things I will remember about this Christmas. Having a missionary home for the first time in two years, the joyful scream of a little girl, and receiving the gift of gratitude.

Now that's Christmas as it is meant to be.