If you haven't yet had the opportunity to send your donations to the Elkridge Fire Department, there is still time to participate in the Christmas Basket Food Drive.
So bring your canned goods or a check down to the Elkridge Fire Department to help a struggling family have a happy holiday. Sometimes, the most important gift that you give is the one that is for no particular reason and just because you feel like it.
If that's your style, I'd like to remind you that there is a donation receptacle for the Elkridge Food Pantry in Green Valley Supermarket that accepts your kindness all year long.
I would like to take this time to thank all of you who have participated or are planning to participate in activities to benefit the homeless and less fortunate members of the Elkridge community. In this season of giving, it is easy to get wrapped up in fighting the crowds at the mall or searching for that perfect gift online and forget the true meaning of Christmas.
I am not going to lecture you here on what that meaning is and I certainly don't want to forget about our brothers and sisters who celebrate non-Christian holidays or other religious and cultural observances such as Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. What I do want to do is remind us all that the spirit of the holidays does bind us together no matter what our beliefs are. They are about charity and giving, thankfulness and family, friends and food, gifts and sentimentality.
So no matter who you are and where you are this holiday season, I hope that your celebrations are robust and full of life and love. I also hope that you will carry the torch of the holidays in your heart as you scramble around returning unwanted gifts or getting those last few presents for the people you will see before or during the New Year.
A smile can take us a long way and a few kind words can melt the iciest of hearts. We don't know what that cashier has been through or what kind of day that person in front of us in line has had. I hope that you will be the smile and kind word that champions the holiday season all year long.
Thank you for your readership and I wish you a Merry Christmas!