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With Thanksgiving upon us, Christmas season will soon move into full gear. Some folks will celebrate the start of the season Thursday by watching football games or putting up their Christmas trees. Others will mark the occasion over the long weekend by taking advantage of Black Friday or Small Business Saturday sales in an effort to get their Christmas shopping done.

Clearly, in this season of giving, shopping for gifts will be an important part of just about any observance of Christmas. But for some folks in Suffolk, this Christmas will be an especially painful one. We saw an article in a respected national publication last week reporting that 60% of Americans are living from paycheck to paycheck. For many people in such situations, there will be no Christmas gifts this year.

When such situations affect Suffolk families with children, the Cheer Fund is there to help. More than 90 years ago, the Suffolk News-Herald’s Cheer Fund was established to help raise money for toys for underprivileged children throughout the city. For many years, a local advisory board and a few other volunteers have worked together to make sure toys were distributed to those who needed them.

Any adult who has ever seen the look of happiness in the eye of a child who has received just the right unexpected gift under the Christmas tree can readily understand the reason that the Cheer Fund exists. But there’s a difference between understanding and supporting.

Today, we want to encourage you to lend your full support to the Cheer Fund, which this year has a goal of $40,000 after raising about $42,000 in 2021. To do so requires little in the way of commitment or sacrifice from most folks. Instead, it requires a resolve to write a check and put it in the mail. Whether for a small amount or a large one is almost less important than the simple fact of financially supporting a deserving community-improvement project.

Please show you care for your community this year with a donation to the Cheer Fund. The happy faces of many children around Suffolk could depend on your support.

To contribute, send a check to Cheer Fund, P.O. Box 1220, Suffolk, VA 23439 or bring it to the newspaper office, 157 N. Main St., from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Friday. We will list your donation in the newspaper, but it can be marked “anonymous” if you like.

Donations may be made in honor of or in memory of someone. If you bring the check to our office, we’ll even take your picture as you hand it to one of our staff.