It's a season for helping

Thanksgiving marks the true start of the holiday season, which includes Hannaka, Christmas, Kwanza and New Year's.

It is a time for renewal of faith, a time to reach out to others, a time to gather in family and friends.

As we enter the season of peace and hope and thanksgiving, we are reminded that far too many of our fellow Americans are without work, or can only find jobs that pay starvation wages. This is the time to help.

At this time last year, however, there were more than a dozen food drives and other projects designed to make the season a little brighter for those less fortunate. So far this year, some of those projects are either getting started late or won't be held. Yet, the need has not gone away.

The three major food banks in the community, at El-Ada, at Grace Lutheran Church and through the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, all have desperate needs for donations. If there isn't a convenient food drive to drop items off, make up a small bag or box and take it to one of those facilities.

Let no one in our community go hungry this season.

That one small act of kindness you make on behalf of your neighbors will go a long way to making this holiday season what it's supposed to be.

-- Kelly Everitt