Editorial: Thank you to readers from Operation Holiday

It is our turn to say thank you.

The readers of this newspaper and its related publications and websites in the tri-county area have overwhelmed us with generosity in responding to our Operation Holiday program to provide gifts and food for families in need at Christmastime.

The fundraising for this year’s campaign stands at $111,575, and donations continue to come in.

The largest amount raised previously in the 31 years of the program was a little over $70,000, and that only happened twice. Generally, amounts have been in the $40,000-$50,000 range.

Granted, the program that began at The Mercury in Pottstown has been expanded in recent years to include a broader reach into Montgomery, Chester and now Berks counties. This was the first year for the Reading Eagle to participate, and that larger audience has helped drive donations.

But there is more at work here than geography.

Operation Holiday is funded solely by reader contributions. And with a few exceptions, donations come from individuals, not corporations or foundations. They come in the form of checks, cash, credit cards through an online portal, and sometimes loose change.

Readers of the print newspapers often cut out the story that inspired them and tuck it in the envelope with their check. Many this year clipped the print Operation Holiday ad that accompanied the stories, making sure we knew their payment was for Operation Holiday.

Some write notes, thanking us for giving them the chance to give. Others send a special wish along for a story that touched their hearts.

We give donors the opportunity to designate a gift as a memoriam or tribute, and many of them do, some giving us a full list with a dollar amount alongside for every grandchild in their family or every loved one lost.

Those of us who work with this program – the reporters who call parents to hear the stories of need, the organizers who work with agency liaisons referring families and distributing gift cards, the editors who assign, edit and schedule stories – are struck each year by the warmth and generosity in our communities.

We are also reminded of the need.

Operation Holiday has as its mission providing food and gifts so that children do not go hungry or without presents for whichever holiday their family observes. The mission is intended for those who have fallen on tough times, with the realization that the hardships families face can happen to any of us through illness, loss of job or a catastrophe.

In a year like this one when a pandemic continues to affect health and livelihood and a hurricane wreaked havoc, destroying homes of some of the most vulnerable neighborhoods in our towns, the reality of hardship hit close to home.

And you, our readers, responded.

The funds from Operation Holiday this year provided grocery gift cards of $175 for 145 families and $100 gift cards to buy gifts for 381 children. Additionally, cash donations will be given in January to a dozen food pantries throughout the three counties to help with food purchases in the winter months.

The managers of those pantries and the families who have received food and gifts typically send us notes, thanking us for giving them hope when they are struggling to get by. But we are only the messengers, the storytellers who strive to inspire.

The gratitude belongs to you, the readers who support us and allow us to continue daily in reporting on our communities and at this time of year being the link that spreads goodness.

Operation Holiday is our privilege, and we are honored both by the families who trust us with their stories of need and by the readers who open their hearts.

From all of us to you: Thank you