Name: 聖誕節做件有意義的善事！能幫助人的「倒數日曆」 - BBC新聞 (The “reverse advent calendar” helping people in need at Christmas - BBC News)
Uploaded: 2021-12-24T21:01:30.000Z
Duration: 3 min 8 s

情態助動詞 A2

So the idea of a "reverse advent calendar" is that it changes the focus instead of thinking about what you're receiving. It makes people think about what they can give.

「反向」聖誕倒數日曆活動所要傳達的訊息是——施比受更有福。

My name is Heather Lateral, and I'm the coordinator or founder of "reverse advent calendar" in Australia.

我是 Heather Lateral。我是澳洲地區「反向」聖誕倒數日曆活動的協調人或發起人。

動名詞

You start with an empty box, and instead of taking something out every day, you put something in, so food or toiletries and Christmas treats for 20 days.

參加活動的方式是找來一個空的箱子，然後連續 20 天，每天往裡面放一點東西，這些東西可以是食物、洗漱用品或聖誕禮物。

And at that point, the box is usually pretty full, and the box is then donated to a food related agency, where it can then be given to a family in need.

20 天後，那個箱子通常都會被放滿東西。被放滿東西的箱子會被捐贈給食品救濟機構，分送給有需要的家庭。

I was really seeing the power of it and the impact on my family, but really just planted this seed in me that there was something bigger in this, and I really wanted to see more people do it.

做這件事情讓我充滿力量，同時也對我的家庭帶來很大的影響，關懷在我的心裡埋下了種子，我希望更多人加入我的行列，一起關懷社會上有需要的人。

So I put on Facebook. Would any of my friends like to join me?

所以我把我在做的事情貼上 Facebook，邀請我的朋友一起來做這件事。

And I thought maybe I would find four friends that would join us that year, but the response was incredible.

第一年發起活動時，我原本估計應該只有四個人會響應我的號召，但收到的回覆是令人難以置信的。

我們最後收集到 70 多個箱子的物資。

I loved it, like it was amazing and I just loved seeing how much other people got from it and then seeing the combined boxes come together to know what a difference it would make.

我很喜歡這種感覺，這種感覺很奇妙，當你意識到有人獲得了幫助，以及你所收集的這些物資可能改變了別人的生命時，你會感到特別快樂。

Which blows my mind to think that from one box in my family, in just four years, it's become 4000 families or individuals across Australia.

過程中最讓人感到震驚的是大家對行善的眾志成城，當年只有我一個人在做這件事情，四年後的今天，全澳洲有四千戶家庭或個人參與這項活動！

They will have more food in their tummies and also that feeling of that they've been cared for.

受惠的家庭這下可以吃飽了，也希望我們能讓他們感受到社會上還有人在乎他們。

We hear stories like moms who because of that food, they're able to free up a bit of their own money to purchase their children a Christmas present.

我們也聽聞我們送過去的食物減輕了一些媽媽的經濟負擔，讓她們能騰出一點錢來給孩子們買聖誕禮物。

One asylum seeker family where the dad was able to choose not to work on Christmas Day because they could afford, because of a box, be able to be with his children on Christmas Day.

一戶在澳洲尋求庇護的家庭因為獲得我們的幫助，他們爸爸也終於可以在聖誕節放假，好好和孩子一起慶祝聖誕節。

People often say, it's such a busy time at Christmas, you know, how are you managing?

人們很常問我，聖誕節這麼忙，你到底是怎麼應付的？

But I find it energizes me. It just gives me so much joy and excitement.

雖然很忙，但做這件事情使我充滿活力，我很快樂也很興奮。

But I would love to get to a point where anybody in Australia who wants to get involved and feel the reverse at that kind of box would be able to access one and do it.

我希望能把這個活動變得更普及和方便，讓每一個想要行善的澳洲人都可以很輕易地響應和參與這項活動，感受施予的幸福。