It's crunch time for gift-givers as online merchants and brick and mortar stores angle for just one more fingertip from that fistful of dollars we each spend every holiday season. Like you I tend to split my time between sitting in front of a computer screen and roaming the aisles.
It’s a little disquieting when you think about it that what we call the season of giving has become such a big business focused on the getting. Maybe that's another reason why I try not to think too much (and usually succeed).
We both probably have one or two (or, in my case, more) gifts still to get and then we have to make sure they'll arrive by Christmas but let's devote less time and energy to the getting and more thought and heart to the giving.
Almost every store we've been to since Thanksgiving has had donation stations for those less fortunate, and they are wonderful opportunities to share. I can think of three different small businesses I frequent who have sponsored or supported fund-raisers for families in need and I know I'm not the only one who has contributed.
Of course, the Salvation Army kettles are part of the season as they should be. And who hasn't helped 'fill a police cruiser' or 'stuff a bus,' on almost any weekend this month?
Each of us has been blessed in one way or another and we can, in turn, share our blessings with someone else. Our giving can be our gift.
When I talk about giving I'm not, thinking about the one-offs or the spontaneous moments we have. Yeah, that couple of bucks and the loose change in our pockets gets us a smile and nod from the bell-ringer and makes us feel better about ourselves but we have another opportunity right here and now to give gifts that benefit and sustain many across our city and region more in need of help than they will ever say or that we could ever imagine.
When I think close to home I think of the annual St. Vincent de Paul Place Dinner for All. They are in need of helping hands to provide thirty dozen Christmas cookies, two-hundred and twenty servings of roast beef, sixty pounds of yellow squash or zucchini. Perhaps you're more of a potato person? That's good because they need a hundred pounds or so of spuds.
And let's not about forget dinner rolls, or the butter to put on them, paper plates, holiday napkins, and coffee with cream and sugar for afters. You can find the full list of needed items online or you can send a note to Bonnie at bysvdpp@gmail.com.
It seems like a lot of food because it is but they feed a lot of people every day of every week all year long, so why not make a cash donation to sustain their work in addition to helping out right now, When you do, you’ll receive far more than you gave. Merry Christmas.
-bill kenny
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