Generosity in demand this holiday season

With Christmas just 20 days away, time soon will be running short for giving to projects that benefit the less fortunate of the area during the holiday season.

Hundreds of people in the area who don't have the money for gifts or even traditional holiday foods are able to receive gifts and food from a number of charitable causes. Among them are Toybox, Christmas for the Elderly and the Salvation Army.

Every year, Toybox provides toys to children who otherwise would not get any, and Christmas for the Elderly provides gifts to seniors who are hard-pressed financially and often in failing health. The gifts to seniors often are essentials they cannot afford to buy for themselves.

The Salvation Army also is there every year to help meet needs by providing food baskets to the needy and a traditional Christmas meal. Money raised by the Salvation Army before Christmas funds many of its other programs throughout the year.

But none of these programs will work without the generosity of the community. Now is the time to make donations to any or all of these worthy causes so that no one in the Cape Girardeau area is forgotten during the holiday season.