WAYPOINT
December 1–24 · A family tradition

Reverse Advent Calendar

Give one gift a day, and fill a box for your local food pantry.

The usual Advent calendar gives you a little gift each day. This one turns it around.

See the listHow to do it
First, the classic

How an Advent calendar works.

Advent is the season of waiting and getting ready for Christmas. An Advent calendar counts down the days, usually from December 1 to December 24. Each day you open one little door, box or pocket and find a small gift or treat inside, until Christmas finally arrives.

People get wonderfully creative with them. Some are made of paper, some are homemade, and some hide something new every morning:

  • Paper doors
  • Chocolate calendars
  • Little boxes
  • Envelopes
  • Ornaments
  • LEGO
  • Socks on a line
  • Matchboxes
The twist

Give instead of receive.

A Reverse Advent calendar keeps the countdown but flips the gift. Instead of opening something each day, you give something: one item a day goes into a box for a local food pantry, and after Christmas you deliver it to people in need.

It’s a small, daily way to reflect the generosity of God, who gave the greatest gift of all.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”John 3:16
Five simple steps

How to do a Reverse Advent box.

  1. Get a box

    Any sturdy box works. Wrap it, paint it, or let the kids cover it in drawings and stickers. Set it somewhere you'll see it every day.

  2. Call your local food pantry

    Ask what they need most. Many pantries keep a most-wanted list, and some can't take certain items, so it's worth a quick call.

  3. Add one item a day

    From December 1 to 24, put one thing in the box each day. A box of cereal, a can of soup, a bag of rice. Small is fine.

  4. Deliver the box

    After Christmas, take the full box to the pantry together. January shelves are often bare once the holiday donations slow down.

  5. Bring others along

    It works for one person, a family, a small group or a whole church. Each household fills its own box, and the boxes add up fast.

From one small church

Sixty-six boxes.

In Advent 2025, families at Lance’s church tried a Reverse Advent together. By Christmas they had filled 66 boxes for their local food bank. When one of those boxes was delivered, the woman who opened the door was moved to tears.

One item a day doesn’t feel like much. Twenty-four days and a few dozen families later, it’s a lot of full shelves, and a lot of people reminded that someone was thinking of them.

December 1–24

The 24-day shopping list.

One item for each day of Advent. Add it to your box, and by Christmas Eve you’ll have a full box ready to give.

  1. Dec1Box of cereal
  2. Dec2Peanut butter
  3. Dec3Mac and cheese
  4. Dec4Canned fruit
  5. Dec5Canned tuna
  6. Dec6Instant potatoes
  7. Dec7Tomato soup
  8. Dec8Canned diced tomatoes
  9. Dec9Package of pasta
  10. Dec10Bag of flour
  11. Dec11Can of refried beans
  12. Dec12Jelly
  13. Dec13Spaghetti sauce
  14. Dec14Box of oatmeal
  15. Dec15Chicken noodle soup
  16. Dec16Individual applesauce cups
  17. Dec17Can of beans
  18. Dec18Can of corn
  19. Dec19Package of rice
  20. Dec20Salad dressing
  21. Dec21Canned chicken
  22. Dec22Can of green beans
  23. Dec23Spaghetti noodles
  24. Dec24Bag of sugar
Coming soon

A daily devotional to go with it.

The Signals of Christmas Advent devotional, A 24-Day Advent Journey, will pair each day’s gift with a short reading, and it comes with a printable Reverse Advent calendar.

Tell me when it’s readyAbout Signals of Christmas
“Now thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift!”2 Corinthians 9:15