First and foremost, we at The Item hope that all of you had a very happy Christmas, filled with the warmth and love that make the season meaningful.
Secondly, we offer our profound thanks to all who made the sacrifice of donating to our annual Item Santa Fund. And we thank all the volunteers who work to make the Item Santa Fund successful, especially David J. Soliminine and his elves on Santa’s Island.
Christmas may be over, and our thoughts may be turning to what we’re doing for New Year’s and beyond. But the need that makes the Item Santa drive special never really goes away, and there is still time to donate to it. In fact, there’s always time.
We may all be exhaling heavily about now — happy that the annual merry-go-round that Christmas can often become has shut down for the time being. We can all get off and take a breather from shopping, and, perhaps, begin the annual process of getting our credit cards back into some semblance of balance.
If that’s all we have to worry about, we’re lucky. Because for some, the needs that make writing letters to the Item Santa necessary never really end — not without a tremendous stroke of fortune, anyway. Those needs will reappear later, the next time a child outgrows a winter jacket, or shoes begin to wear, or, the rent goes up, or some other economic disaster.
And make no mistake. What many of us see as an annoyance or an inconvenience is an economic disaster to the people we endeavor to help with this annual drive.
We have just completed the 51st Item Santa season, and if you look at the list in today’s paper, you will notice that we fell considerably short of our stated goal we we launched the drive in November. As of today, we have raised $33,140.71 — well short of last year’s $98,000-plus.
The reasons for this are no doubt as many as there are people in the area. There are plenty of us who are never too far away from the type of financial dagger that can change lives. We might not be in desperate enough straits to feel as if we have to ask for help, but things can be tough enough in some families to require some difficult — often painful — decisions when it comes to spending money. Maybe this was the year you finally broke down and spent thousands for that new roof you’ve been putting off having installed. Maybe it was co-pays for medical treatments. Perhaps you had to trade in Old Reliable, which had been paid off years ago, and now you’ve got monthly payments to deal with again.
There’s always something, though. But in all of the above equations, we’re operating under the assumption that there is a roof over your head, that you have health insurance so that all you do have to worry about are co-pays, and you have your own car.
The people we seek to help here are doing without at least one of these three very important luxuries in today’s world, and perhaps, in some cases, all three. And these are necessities that don’t magically disappear between Dec. 26 and next Nov. 23, when we begin the 2018 drive. They are constant, and they drain people of the energy they need to survive at the time they need it the most.
We urge you not to forget us in the next 11 months. Whatever you donate, no matter how small you think it is, will go far to give someone in the area a ray of hope (and a ray of sunshine) next year.
Until then, Happy New Year!
The Item Santa fund endeavors to make Christmas a little brighter for those among us who are less fortunate. To make a direct donation to Item Santa, you can write a check to the Item Salvation Army Santa, P.O. Box 5, Lynn, MA 01903. You can also use the coupon attached to the itemlive.com version of this story as well.
All donations are listed in Item print editions through the month of December and into 2018, along with a brief message from each donor, if desired.
This year, there are several other ways to donate. To contribute online, go to www.itemsanta.org, where you can make a donation via credit card.
