Honor Christmas Through The Year

This holiday season Spokane’s Union Gospel Mission and Anna Ogden Hall expect to serve close to 20,000 meals to the poor and needy of our region. Other area shelters, churches and community outreach efforts will supplement that number. But we must remember that the homeless, hungry and downtrodden need our help more than just one season a year.

Our consciences urge us to action between Thanksgiving and Christmas, when our plates are piled high and our shopping carts overflow with gifts for friends and family. Indeed, it is impossible to leave most grocery and department stores without hearing that familiar bell jingling just outside the doors to remind us that others are less fortunate.

As Charles Dickens observed in his holiday classic, “A Christmas Carol,” this season is “a time, of all others, when Want is keenly felt, and Abundance rejoices.” That is why, as in Victorian times, most charities make their appeals at this end of year and receive such a positive response.

That which is donated at Christmastime becomes the bedrock for the budgets of most charitable organizations. But many point out that by late summer, when the sun is shining and the plight of the poor is less obvious, we forget that others continue to suffer and need our help. Area shelters and crisis pregnancy centers still need food, clothing and household goods for the people they serve. Literacy programs, hospices and agencies that reach out to disadvantaged children still need volunteers. All require funds sufficient to meet the multiple needs of those to whom they minister all year long.

Once the Christmas lights come down, we tend to think the “season of giving” is over for the year. But most faith-based ministries and community service endeavors point out that they really count on continued monthly or weekly donations of our time, energy, and material and financial resources.

While holiday giving is certainly much appreciated, the best way to give is to give year round via a monthly pledge to the charity of your choice. Pick one that you know and trust, and then consider reaching out not only with your money but also with a helping hand.

Regarding year round giving, we challenge all to make the same promise that the reformed and resolute Ebenezer Scrooge made: “I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all year.” And God bless us Every One!