Not every holiday gift comes wrapped in festive paper complete with a bow and placed under a tree.

The most impactful presents are slipped into a kettle, dropped into a cardboard bin or placed in the mail.

The unofficial start of the holiday donation season, Giving Tuesday, is now behind us. An estimated $400 million-plus was raised online in this national campaign.

Locally, though, holiday drives are just now building momentum. 

There are many worthy charities and many ways and opportunities to give.

You can give money, toys, food, clothing or your time — or any combination thereof.

You can pull an angel off a tree at your church, the YMCA or elsewhere, purchase the item written on the ornament and place it under that angel tree.

You can make a difference in many lives this holiday season.

Here at the Savannah Morning News, we work with the Savannah Community Foundation on a holiday season fundraising drive, The Empty Stocking Fund. Now in its 48th year, the initiative raises money for local families enduring hardships and tragedies and struggling to fill their children’s stockings with gifts on Christmas morning.

The Empty Stocking Fund is held by the Savannah Community Foundation and promoted by the Savannah Morning News. The United Way of the Coastal Empire and The Salvation Army help identify families in need and review applications for assistance.

In 2018, The Empty Stocking Fund totaled more than $82,000 in donations, with gifts coming from every corner of this community: schoolchildren and retirees, businesses and charitable foundations. Donations range in size from $25 to $12,000.

The 2019 drive opened on Thanksgiving and continues through Christmas. 

To donate, mail checks made payable to SCF – Empty Stocking Fund to 2225 Norwood Avenue, Suite B, Savannah, Georgia 31406.

Once again, the Savannah Morning News is sharing a needy family’s story on the print edition’s front page as well as online every day during the holidays. Individual donors will be acknowledged in those spaces as well.

Happy holidays and thank you, in advance, for sharing in the giving spirit.

– The Savannah Morning News