EDITORIAL: Start holidays with the spirit of helping others

Making shopping number two on your holiday priorities list

   A turkey and some stuffing, maybe a ham and some green beans — not much to ask for, and almost required at some point during the next two months.
   But without help, many families may go without these seasonal goodies.
   Fortunately, there are more than a few ways to help, and the easiest by far is this weekend’s Scouting for Food drive. Area Boy Scouts are distributing empty plastic shopping bags on Saturday and will return for them Nov. 11. Your only job is to fill those bags with food to be donated to the Jamesburg Presbyterian Deacons Food Cupboard and Skeets Food Pantry in Cranbury. Food raised through the drives will be used by the pantries to provide those in need with a holiday meal for Thanksgiving with all the trimmings.
   There are other options, as well, for residents looking to help out their neighbors — by working through their houses of worship or the township schools, for instance, or through service organizations such as the Lions Club or the Kiwanis.
   Other drives in the area include the Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks, in Jamesburg. Drop off boxes are located at the Elks Lodge, located at 74 W. Railroad Ave. and at Corinthian Capital Group, located at 34 W. Railroad Ave., and food will go to the Deacons Cupboard.
   Monetary donations are also accepted. Checks made out to The Deacons Food Cupboard and other donations can be dropped off at the Presbyterian Church Office, 177 Gatzmer Ave.
   In Monroe, the Office on Aging, Friends of the Senior Center, and the Kiwanis Club of Rossmoor will be making more than 100 Thanksgiving dinner baskets. Donations for that and to the Monroe Township Food Pantry can be brought to the Monroe Township Office on Aging at the Monroe Township Municipal Building off Perrineville Road.
   In Cranbury, donations can be dropped off until Nov. 15 and left inside Fellowship Hall at the church, located at 22 S. Main St.
   Needed items include frozen turkeys, canned vegetables, boxed potatoes, cake or muffin mixes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, peanut butter, granola bars, cookies and crackers.
   When you’re helping any of these charities, you might discover the people you’re helping aren’t much different from you. They might be your neighbors, or classmates of your children.
   Sometimes they’ve simply fallen on hard times. Unemployment, low paying jobs and the high cost of living can do that.
   Sometimes there has been a death in the family, or maybe they’ve been hit hard by medical expenses or any number of everyday problems that can hit anyone at anytime.
   The "giving season" is just beginning, so let’s get it off to a great start by filling those bags.