Paying it Forward: There is a Santa Claus
“Santas” serve others. Donating blood, body parts, money, time, care and concern for another. Communities are lifted and blessed by the works of even one person. 'Yes Virginia, there is a Santa!'
“Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus,” was an 1897 editorial in the New York City newspaper, the Sun. The story was the reply to an eight-year-old who writes, ‘Papa says, ‘If you see it in the Sun it’s so.’”
More detail here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yes,_Virginia,_there_is_a_Santa_Claus and in this phot
Every week, area “Santas” serve the needs of others.
One such urgent need is blood. Our Blood Institute here in Wichita Falls really needs donations; give an hour. Their snacks and shirts are great. Staff is amazing and you’ll enjoy relaxing. In less than 3 days, your blood will be in another person making a difference. What a holiday gift.
I’ve friends far and wide, some have donated sight, heart, lungs, kidneys or other parts of their body so others may live. Some friends enjoy better lives as recipients of such gifts. Yet still others await a donor or cures for disease. When you renew your driver’s license, check the box to be a donor. You won’t be needing those parts anyway.
The editorial in the now defunct Sun says, “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy.”
Traditions are what our holidays are about. Families and friends join in celebrations, May our many faiths instill gracious consideration for others as we gather in coming weeks.
Search Facebook with “Truth about Santa.”1 This exchange of indeterminate origin between a father and son is popping up on social media.
Written for big kids and adults, it closes with, ‘You have to be Santa Claus too now. That means you can never tell a young kid the secret, and you have to help us select Santa presents for them, and most important, you have to look for opportunities to help people. Got it?’
Try every day for the rest of this year to be Santa. Make a positive difference for each person you see. A smile is a good start. Season’s Greetings and celebrations for all faiths, as we end another glorious year.
Service opportunities surround you. Take a walk, carry a plastic bag (and gloves). Pick up trash and your neighborhood improves. As well, you stretch, and walk.
Help another have the best Christmas season. May others provide what you need. Thank you for your readership, support and encouragement. Don’t you love all the holiday movies?
“God Bless us, every one,” says Tiny Tim in Dicken’s Christmas Carol.
For service opportunities: facebook.com/groups/servewichitafalls/
For reference: http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Yes,_Virginia,_there_is_a_Santa_Claus
Published Wichita Falls Times Record News, Trends section, Sunday December 22, 2024.
Jack Browne is a community volunteer and former engineer, who became a technology sales and marketing executive over 40 years at Motorola Austin, MIPS Technologies and other Silicon Valley companies. How are the children doing?
Caption: North Texas Pantry, ntxpantry.org, meets the food needs of 26,000 people in Wichita Falls; one in five Americans is food insecure. Donation – cash especially helps feed those in need. WFafb.org Photo: Jack Browne
Another great story to introduce who Santa is to “big kids,” https://proactiveparenting.net/the-sweetest-way-to-tell-your-kids-the-truth-about-santa/