For 32 years now, members of the Third Thursday Group have gotten together monthly to celebrate their friendships with good food and talk. And for 24 of those years, they have donated to Globe Santa — more than $20,000 in all.

The group had its origins with five young lawyers — four women and a man — who in 1985 were working for the law firm then known as Goodwin, Procter & Hoar and had gathered to celebrate Marie Lefton’s 30th birthday. Another member, Christine Hughes, suggested then that they get together once a month and call themselves the Third Thursday Group.

Before long, there were eight children among five couples, and every Christmas each child received a present from each couple.

“We were all fairly well-off young people,’’ says Hughes, “and these were comfortable young kids and it was almost an embarrassment of presents.’’ Added Holly Laurent, another charter member of the group: “It was just too much for the kids.’’

In 1992, they decided that each child would get only one gift from the group, and they would draw slips to determine who gave to whom. And, Hughes recalled, “We decided we would take the money we would have spent on gifts for everyone and make a donation to Globe Santa.’’

And so it has been for all these years.

Why Globe Santa? “I think it’s because we saw this visually — all these presents — and we were all conscious that we and these kids were very fortunate and we knew that there were kids who were not,’’ said Hughes. “And Globe Santa does exactly what we wanted to do, which is to share the wealth and share the joy.’’

The idea was an immediate hit.

“I don’t remember who suggested it but there was no discussion,’’ said Laurent. “It was ‘Yep, that’s what we’re going to do.’ And with lawyers there is usually discussion about everything.’’

In 2005, when a child of one of the lawyers was being treated for cancer, they voted to split their Christmas contribution between Globe Santa and the Jimmy Fund.

The group now comprises six couples with 11 children. They still meet monthly at a time that’s good for everyone. They rotate homes for pot-luck meals and occasionally go out to a restaurant. The families live in Back Bay, Newton, Brookline, Southborough, Arlington, and on Beacon Hill.

“It’s generally a Saturday night but sometimes it’s Sunday brunch,’’ said Lefton. “If you have a meeting on Friday afternoon and you can’t cook and want to bring two bottles of wine, that’s OK.’’

And the kids come when they can — especially at Christmas. In the past they gave allowance money to Globe Santa.

“We share great pride and communal bonding in giving this gift every year,’’ said Lefton.

Hughes said it was clear the group was “part of a larger community.’’

“We scan the Globe Santa lists looking for the Third Thursday contribution and we realize ours is just a drop in the bucket,’’ she said. “There are so many other people.’’

Last year, 6,323 donors gave more than $1 million to Globe Santa, a program of the Boston Globe Foundation that year after year has seen to it that tens of thousands of deserving children have experienced touches of joy and pleasure at Christmastime. Please consider donating today.

Tom Coakley can be reached at thomas.coakley@globe.com.