SALEM -- A Salem family trying to teach their children a special holiday lesson of giving was shocked to find their van full of supplies for the needy stolen.

The Anderson family van was parked in front of their South Salem home and filled with hundreds of dollars worth of clothes, toys and household goods that they had planned to donate.

Neil and Martha Anderson were shocked when they realized it was gone.

“We opened the garage door and where the van normally is there was nothing just driveway, they explained. “We believe heavily that the spirit of Christmas and the holidays is one that you give and provide for others as much as you give and provide love and support for your own."

Through their church, the Anderson’s had sponsored a family – three boys and their mother – who needed some holiday help. Martha had gone to a local Target store and stocked up.

“The spirit of the holiday season is that we share the spirit, we share the joy, we share in humanity,” she said.

Beyond simply living the holiday spirit, the Andersons had hoped to instill it into the hearts of their children.

“Now we get the question, ‘Mommy and Daddy, why would someone want to take our van?’ So we use that to teach right and wrong. We use that to teach empathy and ethics," Neil explained.

The Andersons intend to re-purchase everything that was taken, even if it means fewer presents for their own family. They believe in a season of giving, even if others are simply on the take.

Meantime, police were still searching for the Anderson’s van. It’s a two-toned maroon and gold van with a blue, share-the-road license plate that reads, DPLR. If you see it, you are urged to call the Salem Police Department.