A few weeks ago, a gentleman by the name of Harlan McKendrick told us about a problem: a nonprofit organization on the verge of going under, at least temporarily, if help was not found quickly. It wasn’t just any nonprofit, though. It was a place that feeds the hungry and shelters those with no homes. To close Zion Shelter and Kitchen would mean turning people out into the cold night.

We relayed the dire need of the shelter to you, and you responded. The shelter went from having only enough funds to operate for 30 more days to having enough to carry it into the new year, when Federal Emergency Management Agency grants and, perhaps, city assistance may help float the shelter the rest of the way through the fiscal year.

The many of you who donated $20, $50, $100, the couple who generously donated $2,000 — you did that. When approached with a problem here at home, you helped to solve it, individually and together, with time, with money. You gave new hope to the shelter and the people it serves.

It is, without a doubt, a fine example of the generosity of the season, one that has absolutely nothing to do with gifts under the tree or finding the perfect present for that hard-to-please person, and everything to do with members of our community extending good will to their fellow man.