The Season of Giving Begins

by Michele Boy | November 24, 2021

Thanksgiving is here and the season of giving is upon us. So many businesses, community organizations and individuals work to help those who have hit hard times all year long. We are fortunate to live in such a community as this. And while we will miss many if we were to try to list them all, here are just a few to highlight reminding us of good in the world.

Tomorrow, the Bulldog Pizzeria opens it’s doors for a free Thanksgiving meal to everyone from 11 am to 2 pm. 

Wheatland Electric’s local Cram the Van event and their annual Co-op’s Care Charity Golf Tournament raised $2,648 in addition to canned goods for our local food pantry. 

Wheatland Electric’s season of giving facebook contest brought money to the VIP center and a grant to the pool board. These will be highlighted in future articles.. 

The PEO Chapter AI put together 5 baskets of snacks and homemade items. Member Janet Mathias said, “These were delivered to the Hm. Co. Hospital, Care Home, EMS, Health Dept. and Hamilton Co. Clinic in appreciation for their hard work and service to Syracuse and Hamilton Co.  PEO is an international women’s organization dedicated to the education of women. 

Last Friday, Lora Horton and Ra Vernon along with volunteers including Anita Bezona, Chris Squire and John Swisher packed 50 Thanksgiving Day boxes for families who need a hand this season.

Local churches worked hard to bring gifts to Operation Christmas Child.

One family in particular began gathering change at the beginning of the year for the sole purpose of giving to others. Cesar Dominguez and Flor Apodoca along with their children, Daniel Apodaca, 13, and Adan Dominguez, 10.

Flor commented, “Last year we put together two shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child. We decided this year to save up our change to make as many as possible to see the smiles on those kids faces.”

She continued, “And my sons were very happy knowing that they can make others children’s Christmas brighter.”

It’s a tradition they plan to continue - “We are thankful for what God has given us as a family and to be able to help as much as we can feels wonderful.”.

 Ra Vernon has also taken over as the community’s Operation Christmas Child volunteer, a position which was held by Arlene Kirby. She was overwhelmed with the task of the community and as a volunteer for her church, so she asked her mother, Jean Bezona for help as the local church volunteer.  

“Grandma Jean took it and ran with it!” said Ra. Jean encouraged the church to help but gave her family members a task to do. Granddaughter Tasha Dupree’s job was to make the Tic Tac Toe bags. “Grandma sewed little bags and used puff paint to make the board on the bag, then added the elastic cord to close the bags.” Inside the bags they used two different colored poker chips for the game pieces.  

All totaled, our local churches and individuals packed 230 boxes for Ra to take to Garden City on Monday. 

 The Shoebox gifts are shipped out from the processing centers and are delivered in Central/South America and Eastern Europe.  

And there are many more like Irena Cruz and Loving Hearts that have been collecting all year for their Christmas Toy Drive.

As reported last week in the Syracuse Journal, the Syracuse Parent Teacher Organization donated books to every child and every classroom thanks to the many donations and book sales. 

And this year, the Syracuse Journal would like to do something new. We are hosting a giveaway for a few children. Details will follow next week but in the spirit of giving, we would like to have people stop in and enter someone else’s name in  the drawing. 

A very happy Thanksgiving to you all. While there will always be challenges in our community, we are blessed with many givers and many that work tirelessly to give.