I counted about a dozen appeals in recent weekend papers for help. There are any number of groups and individuals out there with great ideas and they all need help.
Nonetheless, count this article as one more appeal. We need to tap the charitable impulse that runs so strongly through the capital for some help in making Christmas better for some folks.
The Christmas Fund is a half-century tradition in Victoria now, so the basic idea is well-known. Readers come together and put an impressive pile of cash together, which is then disbursed through the community to hundreds of families who are quietly identified as being in need of help.
What makes the whole thing work is the impulse people have to help. That impulse is a wonderful thing. We try to nurture it as much as possible.
It obviously make a direct and tangible difference in the Christmas of others less fortunate. The stories of heartfelt gratitude I've heard from colleagues who have gone out and distributed the cheques move me every year. Being a part of that can infuse your December with a bit of that elusive Christmas spirit.
It's a shame how that sense of goodwill, gladness and togetherness can get leached out of Christmas in all the hubbub. There are a lot of chores to be done at this time of year, a lot of running around in malls with checklists. Shopping and planning festivities and add a lot of unwanted pressure to day-to-day life at this time of year. Taking a moment to give to the Christmas Fund can be a bit of a time-out. It's a moment to reflect on our relative prosperity, in a world where millions don't even know that word. It's a moment to give thanks that we are in the luxurious position of having extras. And of course, a moment to give in the purest sense of the word.
There are families and institutions in this town who have made it a quiet part of their Christmas for years now. We thank them whole-heartedly and invite them to do so again.
For any newcomers, we offer them this chance to feel good about themselves and enjoy maybe just for a moment a burst of that Christmas cheer.
And for anyone who has just not gotten around to it before, we offer the fund as a way to dial down the shopping pressure and turn up the Christmas spirit.
You'll change someone's life for the better, and you'll feel good about yourself.
