LETTERS: YEAR-AROUND GIVING

To the editor:

The Christmas season has finally come to an end. We now can enjoy our two-sizes-too-small sweater from Aunt Cleta (which you have given to the kids to fight over), our deluxe can opener/salad tosser from the parents and the new CD which now is not-so-new (you know, the one with the song on it that you can't get out of your head for anything). Christmas 1995 is just a blur. Without the reminders from our much-appreciated-but-not-always-liked presents, Christmas 1995 would be forgotten altogether.

Something most of us experienced this past Christmas was putting money in the bright red buckets of The Salvation Army. Helping others less fortunate seems to fit right in with the Christmas spirit. There are two phrases on the stands which hold the buckets, one being "Sharing is caring" and the other being "Need has no season."

As I read the second one, I realize it to be true and very evident in every part of society around us. People don't suddenly become more homeless, more hungry or more needy in the month of December. Need has no season.

The Apostle Paul, talking about the people of Galatia, states in Galatians 2:10, "All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor." It doesn't say to remember the poor just during the Christmas season or to only think about them every time we hear that somewhat annoying bell ringing as we walk into a store. We should always remember the poor in everything we do, because need has no season.

Instead of just giving money to The Salvation Army during Christmas, save spare change for a couple of months and, instead of spending it on something for yourself, give a donation during the middle of July. Rather than buying that new swimsuit in March that you think you'll be in by June, give the money as a gift to the poor by donating it to The Salvation Army. (We all know that you'll just end up wearing the one from last year anyway, because the new one doesn't fit.) Whatever you do, just remember one thing: Need has no season.

JENNIFER TRAPP

Greenville, Ill.