While Christmas is a time for joy and celebration, the holiday can be hard for many families. Budgets are stretched thin, memories of loved ones we've lost can haunt us and many of our service members are away from their families.

Military families make sacrifices all year-round, but those sacrifices are magnified during the holiday season, especially for those with children. It can be hard for children to find joy in the Christmas season when one or both parents are deployed away from home.

But those children deserve to be happy just as much if not more than the children of non-military families. If you're wondering how you can help military families in need during the holiday season, consider one of these great programs.

Adopt a family

There are numerous organizations that allow civilians to adopt military families for the holidays. Military families in need can submit their Christmas wish lists to organizations and donors can help make their Christmas dreams come true. A few of those organizations include: Soldiers' Angels; Operation We Are Here; and Operation Ward 57.

Help a service member send gifts

A great way to help our service members who are away from their families this Christmas is by sending gifts on their behalf to their spouses and children. Full Circle Home gives deployed service members an opportunity to send gifts to family members. They also feature hand-written notes from the service member.

Provide financial assistance

It's pretty well known that our service members make little money when compared to their job duties and the family sacrifices they make. One way to help military families this Christmas is through financial support. Organizations such as the American Red Cross provide an array of services, including financial support and deployment services.

For more information on how to help military families this Christmas, check out MilitaryBenefits.info for a complete list of organizations that help.

Sources:

http://militarybenefits.info/christmas-programs-for-military-families-in-need/

http://www.redcross.org/find-help/military-families

http://www.fullcirclehome.org/#!request-a-gift-box