Season of Giving

November 1 officially begins the Christmas season here at the Slawter house. This is for a couple of reasons. The first is that for the past 11 years I have worked for a mail order company and for the six weeks or so before Christmas there is so much work to be done there that there is very little time left over to shop and decorate. So, if I want time to really get things done right I have to start early. The second is that I really adore Christmas and enjoy dragging the holiday out as long as possible. Also, I don't really have anything in the way of Thanksgiving decor... is there really such a thing? So if I want the house spruced up for Thanksgiving I might as well pull out Christmas stuff. Generally the stockings and tree etc don't go up until right at Thanksgiving but otherwise... yeah we'll be decking the halls in the next week or two.

I could write for thousands of words about Christmas... and I likely will since it is NaBloPoMo here on my blog. But my post today is about charity. I saw on the local news website this morning that the Salvation Army is already ramping up the effort to get toys donated for needy children. The demand this year is especially high due to the economy. Lots of families won't have food to eat or gifts to give their small children. This totally breaks my heart and I look forward to finding as many outlets as possible to help these truly needy people have the holiday that all families deserve. However. And this is where I get all soapbox-y and pissed off. There are horrible people out there. Horrible, despicable greedy criminals that take advantage of others' good will. People that are always on the look out for ways to get their hands on more for themselves. So I encourage everybody that reads this blog to find some way this holiday season to help someone that needs it. Even if all you can give is a kind word to someone that is having a bad day. But please PLEASE be cautious to make sure that the donations you do give go to the right places so that they can get to those that need the help the most instead of lining the pockets of those that seem to think they deserve it.