Your Generosity Makes a Difference

There has been much said about the “commercialization” of the Christmas holidays. One might only have to walk into any of the big box stores to see the display of Christmas decorations and ornaments as early as October.

Six-foot-high inflatable Santas can be seen alongside Halloween lawn decorations, while our mailboxes become stuffed with holiday fliers and offers for early holiday shopping. This should make us all scratch our heads and wonder whether we’ve lost the true meaning of the season.

Christmas should be a time of rejoicing and of great happiness. It should be a time of recognition of the greatest gift ever granted to humanity.

However, for some it is a time of sorrow, as their circumstances may be much different than ours. The happiness and excitement that fill the eyes of many a child will just be blank stares from children who live in less fortunate circumstances. 

For others, it will be in the sadness of the loss of a loved one, or the realization that those closest to them will not be able to be present due to circumstances out of their control.

It is important that we look around us to see what can be done to help those less fortunate or those in need of a kind word to help lift their spirits. We should also think about those who lost everything in the terrible floods in Tennessee and North Carolina, along with those devastated by the terrible weather events in other areas of our great nation.

We live in a region of the nation where those with great resources are only steps away from those with so little. We also have many near us who live alone or have lost those closest to them, leaving this time of year as an especially lonely one.

Each and every one of us can help to make this time of year more representative of what it should be about, and many do so in their commitment to the many charities and efforts that are undertaken this time of year.

The efforts undertaken by Toys for Tots by the United States Marines Corps are just such an effort. The Joy of Giving endeavor here on the island and the wonderful philanthropy shown by the Island Country Club in support of these efforts are all great examples, as are the efforts of our own local Kiwanis Club.

Around the world, there are so many men, women, and children who are innocent victims of the ravages of war and in dire need of assistance today as conflicts rage in nations such as Ukraine, Sudan, Israel, and Gaza, to name a few. International aid organizations are being overtaxed by the need to assist those in great need today. Even the smallest donation will do much to lessen the terrible burden being shouldered by those families. If we all do a little during this holiday season, we can help to lessen that burden, and through those acts of kindness, we will make the world a better place.