Help a child by giving this Christmas

This Christmas gift-giving season is winding down (less than two weeks before Christmas). The economy is finally improving, and the spirit of the season is reaching new highs (Black Friday, Small Town Saturday, Cyber Monday). With this improvement in spirit goes many opportunities to help our fellow community members.

Our community is known for its spirit of helping others in need. Cookie jar auctions, chili dinners, Soup and Bread dinners at a local church, a food bank run by another church, and other activities are all aimed at helping each other. Another opportunity is the “Giving Tree” or “Elf Tree” located at Thermopolis Hardware. On the tree are Christmas wishes from children in our community. Each tag on the tree lists the child’s age and sex, clothing size, shoe size, and coat size. Then the child’s wish list is added on.

We have many generous, big-hearted people in our community. Anyone can take a tag to gift what they can afford to give. Each tag is a wish list, not a demand list. Many tags have already been taken. Many still wait to be taken. Ages range between babies to teenagers. Hopefully the tags will all be taken, and gifts returned to the same location, before the December 20 deadline.

This is an opportunity to know that a child somewhere in our community will know the meaning of that famous editorial quote from 1897, “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.” Merry Christmas to all the wonderful people in our community!