At first glance, this holiday sale appears to be a standard seasonal exchange of goods and currency. It has all the trappings: potential presents festooned across display tables, eager fingers clutching holiday shopping lists, and a question pervading the air that has worried gift-givers since the dawn of time—will they like this gift? But look closer. This is the Agassiz Baldwin Community’s (ABC) Kids-Only Holiday Sale where the customers are elementary school-aged children, most of the merchandise is donated by local, independent businesses, and the learning is just as important as the buying.

Since the annual sale began in the 1980s, one of the goals of the event has been to teach children that giving can be fun. “We want to tap into the pleasure of giving versus receiving,” says ABC Community Liaison Phoebe Sinclair. Sinclair points out that for many children, the concept of giving gifts may be new, and the process of matching the gift to the recipient is a skill that must be learned. To that end, ABC Children’s Program staff members are on hand to reduce anxiety and boost enjoyment by helping kids with shopping lists, budgets, and gift selection. Most items are priced between ten cents and five dollars so that every child can find something special to give to someone they love.

The Kids-Only Holiday Sale takes place from 3-6pm on December 4, 5, 6, 9 and 10 while supplies last at 20 Sacramento Street, Cambridge. Joie de Vivre has generously donated items to the sale. Proceeds support scholarships for ABC Children’s Programs. The Agassiz Baldwin Community is a private, non-profit organization with a forty-year history of quality programs and services in the Cambridge community.