Someting happened the day before Thanksgiving and I wasn't really sure how to comment on it. On the surface it really didn't appear to be that big of a thing. After a week I have come to believe it is a bigger thing than I could have imagined.

The service at St. Rita the day before Thanksgiving has a special and significant result. Beverly Perham receives thousands of gifts for children in the Pahokee and South Bay areas.

For the month preceding Thanksgiving, parish members take little slips of paper home with them. Each slip has a small request ... to buy socks and underwear for a cetain aged child. The slip just contains a size. No name. No address. No picture. Just a size and sex.

In that thirty days culminating the day before Thanksgiving, Beverly picks up gifts. All told, more than 6,000. And at Christmas she distributes them to each of the children. Wow!

In Wellington we live a lifestyle that runs from middle class to the wealthy. Too often it may be easy to ignore what others do not have when we rush around to take care of our families.

But think of it ... these children are overjoyed (by all reports) when they receive this gifts. Think about it. Not a Wii, or iPod, or the latest Nike shoes.

Just socks and underwear.

To see all these gifts stacked up in the Sancturay brings a tear to the eye of even the most ingrained Scrooge among us. It did to me, but then again, I'm not a Scrooge.

Let's reflect on this season of giving and joy and remember those less fortunate than are we. Make a donation to your favorite cause. Volunteer your time at one of the homeless centers in the area. Take your children and teach them a lesson we so often forget.

Maybe Helen Keller said it best: “Instead of comparing our lot with that of those who are more fortunate than we are, we should compare it with the lot of the great majority of our fellow men. It then appears that we are among the privileged.”

> Discuss this entry