Please give generously to Clothe-A-Child

Many see the holidays as a season of excess. Don’t take that the wrong way. It’s a time of love, sharing and joy. It celebrates faith, optimism and tradition. But, there’s no way around it — it’s also a time of constant shopping, bustle and pressure.

Adding to that feeling so many of us get at this time is that each year, the season seems to get longer.

We’re not complaining about that part, though. You see, we’ve already been shopping for three months.

No, we’re not out there buying Christmas gifts for our families and friends.

We’re heading to the mall nearly every day with our friends to carry out Clothe-AChild’s mission.

As of Nov. 9, 360 children in Lake and Geauga counties have received new clothes through the program so far in 2017.

For more than 35 years, Clothe-A-Child has been assisting area children in need thanks to donations from the community, with 100 percent of donations going to the children.

Over the years, generous donors have entrusted more than $4 million to the charity.

Every penny donated goes to the children served by Clothe-A-Child. The NewsHerald covers all administrative costs.

Starting in September and continuing through the winter, volunteers take children ages 5 through 12 on shopping sprees to Payless ShoeSource and JCPenney at Great Lakes Mall in Mentor.

That feeling of excess we lamented above is easily canceled out by the smiles of the youngsters finding the perfect outfit or the right gloves for that first snowball fight.

To be able to keep shopping and reach our goal of serving as many children as possible, we need your help.

It’s important to remember that at this time when spending seems almost expected, many in Northeast Ohio are still struggling to feed their families and keep them warm.

We can’t forget that some of our neighbors won’t have much to celebrate.

That’s where Clothe-A-Child steps in.

There are several ways to get involved:

• Donations are accepted year-round by making checks payable to Clothe-A-Child, c/o The News-Herald, 7085 Mentor Ave., Willoughby, OH 44094 or go online at www.News-Herald.com/clotheachild.

• If you’d like to volunteer as a shopper, email Clothe-A-Child Director Pam Jenkins at ClotheAChild@News-Herald.com.

• If you or your group hosts a fundraiser to benefit Clothe-A-Child, be sure to tell us about it. Send us some information and photos to the address above and we’ll proudly share your good deed with our friends on Facebook and users of our website.

We thank you for your continued support of this worthy cause.

And, we hope you’ll consider sharing your generosity again to assist children in need throughout the area.