The Secret of Giving is the secret of life for Reba McEntire.
Both her new Christmas album and CBS TV movie are titled Secret of Giving.
On a personal level, the country superstar and actress also feels that giving to those less fortunate is vital to a successful life.
"We were so thrilled to have the title the Secret of Giving because it is a dear, cherished, very valuable gift," Reba tells the Sun, about the movie in which she stars and acts as executive producer.
"People who have too much and don't give are missing out on what life is all about.
"I was always raised in the country and when your neighbour needs help, you're supposed to be there to help. That's the code of the West!" says the 45-year-old McEntire.
Reba's charitable efforts are well documented. She has even been honoured with humanitarian awards, including TNN's Minnie Pearl Award in 1998.
For 15 Christmases, Reba and her Starstruck employees have run the Wrap a Little Love program, which gives to the needy across the U.S. and feeds hungry children in her home state of Oklahoma.
"I kept telling my fans: 'Please don't send me Christmas gifts -- spend it on your families.'
"But they kept doing it, so I said 'OK, let's do this. If you send anything to me, it's going right back to your state, to a charity there.' "
Reba has also wrapped a lot of love into the Secret of Giving projects.
The TV movie is based on a short story -- Christmas in Calico -- and was retitled when Reba recorded the Secret of Giving song.
"When I read it I fell in love with the story," says Reba, who plays the title character Rose Cameron, who, after falling on hard times, gets to be on the receiving end of some generosity.
Rose is a young widow trying to cope with her husband's death, raise a young son (played by Devon Alan) and run their ranch.
Set in 1905, a mysterious lone rider (played by Thomas Ian Griffith) enters Rose's life. His presence is welcome until the town learns of his past.
"We were really worried about doing a Christmas movie in June. We're supposed to look real cold and those period costumes are very heavy and made of wool ... it could be uncomfortable," says Reba.
"But the great thing is we filmed in Canada -- Vancouver and Kamloops -- and that worked out tremendously."
It seems Reba's life in general is pretty tremendous these days.
She has a new studio album -- in stores Tuesday (Nov. 23) -- titled So Good Together and is doing a concert tour in the U.S.
To promote all these new projects, she will be a regular on TV.
A&E's Biography will feature her on Tuesday (Nov. 23) at 6 p.m. The network will also have Reba star in Live By Request following her Biography.
CMT has also selected her as artist of the month and will focus on Reba's work until Dec. 20.
