Another relativly easy and painless way to serve is to donate food to a food drive or food bank. You would need to do a little research to find the food drives in your area, but one that should be everywhere (at least in America) is the Letter Carriers food drive. So if you can spare a can or box (or more) of non perishable food items, especially those high in protine then you should do so. This is the time of year when food drives are prevelent so find one near you!

As for today's Christmas thing, it's Candy Canes. I think I've heard that they're derived from shepherds crooks but I don't really know if that's true. According to wikipedia, it is. Here is another opinion on the subject.