White Gift Sunday dates back to 1904 in Ohio. The wife of a Methodist minister and her two daughters came up with the idea of giving gifts wrapped in white paper at Christmas time to people in need.
Gifts are wrapped in white so that they will be anonymous. People who can only give a little will not be embarrassed. There is a Chinese tradition where all the people gave their king a gift wrapped in plain white paper so that every gift would look the same. People gave the king what they were able, and the king welcomed them all.
The White Gift shares in the spirit of Christ and the God of love at Christmas. We give gifts of love to people in need. These gifts are often nonperishable food items that are distributed to people in the community.
White Gift Sunday celebrates the stewardship of God’s love and giving at the time of year when we remember the coming of the King of Kings.