LANETT – A Greater Valley Area family will spend this holiday season making sure others do not go without.

The Bell family, owners of Bell’s Collision in Lanett, said they are not exchanging gifts during their Christmas holiday, but putting the money they would have spent on gifts towards a donation to several different organizations.

Donna Bell said her daughter Christen Bell originally came up with the idea.

Christen Bell said the organization the family plans to donate to isn’t finalized just yet, nor is the amount, but Circle of Care, Christian Service Center and the Juvenile Justice Ministry based in Auburn are near the top of their list.

Circle of Care provides counseling and other services that improve quality of life, according to its website.

The Christian Service Center is a homeless shelter in Chambers County, which provides food, clothing, household and personal items to individuals in the community.

The Juvenile Justice Ministry engages young people through detention centers, probation services, correctional facilities, group homes, residential treatment centers and emergency shelters.

Donna Bell said the family will also make a food donation to the Humane Society for dogs and cats.

Donna Bell said she was inspired by her daughter’s idea and hopes it will be paid forward.

“We hope that people would be like-minded and do the same thing,” she said. “Christmas is so commercial and people kind of miss what it is all about. If you do something for a needy person, Jesus says you are doing that for him. We just hope that maybe redirect people’s thinking of the holiday season.”

Christen Bell said the idea came from a program her church is doing during the holidays. The program involves giving a child a Christmas who may not receive anything else without it.

“I was thinking about it, and I don’t really need anything for Christmas,” she said. “There are things that I want, but there are kids who really need a Christmas who won’t get anything if people don’t give.”

She said it would mean much more to her if she could bring somebody else joy than receiving gifts herself.

“Instead of getting something that I want but don’t need, I could give to somebody who is in need and be way happier,” Christen Bell said.

Donna Bell said due to the business the family owns, they are able to help individuals in the community who are in need, and she said the company should be able to make a significant donation to help a number of people.