This holiday season has me thinking about one of the popular books at this time of year, “How The Grinch Stole Christmas.â€?  In particular, what he learns near the end of the book–”Maybe Christmas doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas…perhaps…means a little bit more!”  To me, what makes this season great is how our thoughts all turn to helping others.

In my home state of Idaho, there have been some recent examples of service–a Boise woman recently gained national attention for her organization, Chefs to the Rescue, that distributes food to the hungry in the Treasure Valley.  Sue Cobley, a mother of five who was once homeless herself, took a difficult personal situation and turned it into a blessing for others in the same plight.  But hunger in Idaho as well as other states is not confined to larger communities:  the seasonal soup kitchen in Salmon (a community in central Idaho with a population of just under 3,000), the Challah Community Kitchen, serves an average of 50 meals every Saturday.  Deborah Unruh, the Salmon resident who started the community kitchen, felt called to meet a challenge facing many individuals and families in this and other small towns with natural resource-based economies—seasonal employment makes for lean winter months.  But service isn’t just making sure those who are hungry are fed.  There are many ways–people helping the homeless, the abused, children, the disadvantaged, the indigent, the elderly and the community as a whole.

And lest we forget those whose service includes dodging enemy fire instead of holiday shoppers and oppressive desert heat instead of a warm fire on a chilly evening, our soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen elevate service to a life-threatening level.   For these brave men and women, our peaceful, snowy 2006 Christmas season will be a gritty world of determination, bravery, fatigue and, at times, fear and pain.  Our law enforcement officers and firefighters also risk their lives every day in our communities, serving often times in as much danger as our military overseas.

It doesn’t take a full bank account, multiple community connections or even large blocks of free time to make a difference.  In fact, many people who extend themselves do so with limited budgets of time and money.   It’s remarkably easy to reach out to others this holiday season.  From spending a few hours at your local soup kitchen, food bank or shelter to organizing a community drive to help people in need, opportunities for service abound.  Just before Thanksgiving, students and teachers at Hawthorne Middle School in Pocatello, and Weiser School District employees both gathered items to send to troops in Iraq–something that other schools and communities in Idaho have also done over the past three years.  Toys for Tots and The Salvation Army bell ringers are familiar holiday sights; helping them is very simple.

Service can even take the form of recycling and donating used clothing, computers, furniture and appliances.  Goodwill, The Salvation Army and other national and local organizations always need donations of quality items families no longer use.  You can also support our troops this holiday season.  In November 2004, the Department of Defense launched “America Supports You,� designed to recognize and facilitate citizen support for our service members and their families.

Local, state and national groups register to be listed at the “America Supports You� website.  Military members deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan have access to the Internet as their mission allows, so take a few minutes and send a note to them at the “Thank the Troops� section of the website.  Such messages can lift spirits and give encouragement; it only takes a moment.

It makes me want to make a stronger commitment to help others; ‘tis the season!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 29th, 2006 at 3:02 pm and is filed under Politics, Lawmaker News .