Behind Daniel Faneuf’s desk in his downtown Boston office sits a handcrafted Christmas ornament, sandwiched between two wooden Patriots bookends, a reminder of the impact that one good deed can do for children during Christmas.

It’s a simple decoration fashioned by a child – four beaded branches off a beaded root. But something made Faneuf donate $10,000 to Globe Santa for the ornament at the auction during last year’s “No Rest for the Wicked Funny’’ 24-hour fund-raiser at the Improv Asylum.

Like so many others, Faneuf fondly remembers running downstairs as a child to find presents under the tree on Christmas morning.

But for some like Faneuf, who as a child often had very few items to call his own throughout the year, Christmas presents were more than just new toys. They were a reminder that someone cared enough to wrap presents just for him.

“I felt like I got lost in the shuffle a bit growing up,’’ said Faneuf, who performed at the Improv Asylum before going to law school and opening his own law firm.

“To feel like someone cared enough about me, wrapped me presents that were just for me,’’ he continued. “To think that maybe there are just kids that don’t even experience that moment and if you can make it happen where it wouldn’t happen . . . that makes me feel great.’’

Last year, after having an especially successful few weeks at work, Faneuf wanted to continue that tradition for other children.

At the 12th annual rendition of the benefit show, Faneuf shocked the crowd when he bid $3,000 for the ornament, handcrafted by an 8-year-old girl. When he went on stage to speak to the audience, he topped his own offer with $7,000 more.

“It was so hard to describe the emotion in the room at the moment that that happened, because he just kind of rallied everybody together,’’ said Stacey Princi, the program’s producer.

Faneuf’s donation last year brought the night’s total Globe Santa contribution to $28,084.61, a significant jump from the $17,000 they had made the year before, Princi said.

Faneuf grew up with seven brothers and sisters, and his parents also fostered many children. Sometimes, there were as many as 14 children living in the house at once.

His parents didn’t have a lot of money — Faneuf remembers taking clean socks from a communal basket, rather than being given his own — but his mom always wanted Christmas to be different, and she went “over and beyond.’’

“Christmas was always just a magical time that really was the sun coming back,’’ he said.

Faneuf runs a civil litigation law firm in downtown Boston, and he always knew if he came upon a lot of money, he wanted to give it back to the community to help other children.

He’ll take the ornament off his office shelf this Christmas to put it on his tree, but he was reluctant to tell many others the story behind it.

Faneuf doesn’t want to brag, he said, because the donation was never intended to promote himself.

“You don’t realize what amount of impact . . . a shiny toy someone got just for you can have on a kid,’’ he said. “I keep it there to remind me about what it is that I want to do on this planet.’’

Globe Santa, a program of the Boston Globe Foundation, has been providing gifts for needy children since 1956.

Last year, the effort raised about $1 million from 6,323 donors and provided gifts to 35,570 children in nearly 20,000 families throughout Eastern Massachusetts.

Please consider giving either by mail or phone or on line at www.globesanta.org.

This year’s 24-hour fund-raiser will be held at the Improv Asylum, 216 Hanover St. Boston, beginning Dec. 21 at 7 p.m. and continuing until 7 p.m. Dec. 22. A cast of 10 main stage actors and Improv Asylum alumni will be performing.

Felicia Gans can be reached at felicia.gans@globe.com or @FeliciaGans