Beyond the joyous decorations and melodies, Christmas holds a special place as the season of giving. During the festive weeks of Christmas, a genuine sense of selflessness, generosity and kindness is evoked in the hearts of humanity. These four Christmas songs spread joy by supporting several charitable organizations with the funds raised through their success.

Last Christmas

Although the song took a while to reach Christmas Number One, it has consistently been generous over the years. The band is renowned for donating all royalties from their songs “Last Christmas” and “Everything She Wants” to the Ethiopian famine relief. This philanthropic effort remained a secret until the untimely passing of George Michael. Every Easter, George Michale, without fail, would call Capital Radio to make generous donations of £100,000 to “Help a London Child,” a charity dedicated to supporting underprivileged children in the British capital. Royalties from other titles he featured in were given to other charities such as the Terrence Higgins Trust, AIDs Hospice London Lighthouse, Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity and Childline.

Christmas Without You

Twenty-five Youtubers from across the globe came together and flew to Amsterdam, Netherlands, to record the holiday single. The song was written by Grammy Award-winning songwriter “Jackie Boyz” and curated by “Hello Management.” The single’s goal was to reach Christmas Number One with an intent to donate a significant portion of the proceeds to the “Make-A-Wish Foundation,” a nonprofit organization dedicated to granting wishes to children fighting life-threatening conditions.

Happy Xmas

The inherent charm of participating in a Secret Santa exchange lies in the fact that you do not know the identity of the gift-giver. However, in this unique twist, there is a delightful certainty that Santa is among the group. In a generous move, Yoko Ono and Sean Ono Lennon discreetly donated 50 rare records of the critically acclaimed “Happy Xmas (War is Over)” to various charities and record shops. They told the recipients to raise funds by selling or auctioning these exclusive 12-inch vinyls. Each edition featured a unique sticker with an individual number out of 50 and a machine-printed signature from Yoko, making them valuable collectibles.

Holy

The Lewisham And Greenwich National Health Service (NHS) Choir, which consists of nurses, physiotherapists, administrators and doctors, gained national attention when it made its debut on Gareth Malone’s inaugural program, “Sing While You Can,” in 2012. The competition was fierce and the choir was defeated during the finals. The following year, they released a Christmas single, “Bridge Over You,” which smashed Justine Bieber’s “Love Yourself” to the Christmas Number One position after he urged his followers to back the NHS song. In 2020, Justine Bieber collaborated with the NHS choir to produce a new Christmas recording of his hit song “Holy,” with the proceeds going to the NHS workers battling at the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic.

– Siddharth Thampi
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