by Curt Kovener 
By now many of us are putting together the menu for the fast approaching Thanksgiving feast. Pitch-in dinners and family gatherings will be pretty much standard fare as will turkey, dressing, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce and desserts of pecan pie, persimmon pudding and pumpkin pie.
Some of us get wrapped up in the planning, preparation and management of the meal. Some of us get to deal with merely the anticipation of all the good tasting food. And some look forward to the warmth a family gathering generates.
But throughout all the preparation, the gorging of our gut, the afternoon snoozes and the too infrequent thoughts of those blessings for which we are to be thankful, remember that there are some folks in our own community that lack family, adequate nutrition and those warm & cozy feelings we come to expect from Thanksgiving.
In light of the struggling (and I am being benevolent using that term) economy, single parent-single income households have a difficult time. Even dual income families with children feel pinched. Living paycheck to paycheck means that a major car repair or medical emergency can force a decision between paying the electric bill, gas bill or eating this month. Area seniors sometimes are overlooked during the holidays as extended families look inward. Sometimes it is difficult to be thankful when you are dining alone thinking that no one cares.
That’s sometimes where our local food pantry and the Crothersville FFA food drive have been able to lend a helpful hand of support.
The First Baptist Church has without fanfare gone about the business of collecting and storing away food to give to area families in crisis. The FFA provides Christmas food and fruit baskets to area residents whose holiday may not be as cheerful otherwise.
Some churches use the fifth Sunday of the month as a food collection time. The next one is the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Maybe you could use it an a reminder to help others with a financial contribution.
Whether you choose to do your part for the year-round food pantry or the local FFA’s holiday cheer drive, it really doesn’t matter. What is important is that we do our part to provide for those who may not be having their basic needs met and sharing a caring hand to those who may be forgotten this holiday season.
As you make your Thanksgiving shopping list, buy a few extras and take them to the food pantry or FFA food drive. Or if you are a part of the quick & easy, instant gratification crowd, a cash contribution is always welcomed.
Then after doing so, as you quietly unbuckle your belt to allow for more room, after eating too much on Thanksgiving, count your blessings. And you will rest a bit more contented knowing that you shared your bounty—meager as it may be—with others.
Aiding in the improving of the well-being of others this holiday season will not make you a “socialist” or a “re-distributor”—a couple of terms misused more than once of late. But it will mean you embrace and practice the teachings found by reading your Bible.
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“The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt
