With the weather growing colder and the holidays getting closer and closer, many people in our community are struggling financially, battling an illness, or overcoming an addiction, and are thereby struggling to find happiness this holiday season. Luckily, local organizations such as Holiday Express and the Pajama Program work towards spreading holiday cheer by hosting concerts and delivering goods to those who are in need of help in our community. Both charities collect donations of goods from the more fortunate of the community and accept volunteers to help package and send these goods out to various hospitals, shelters, and clinics around the area. By simply donating cans of food or a new pair of pajamas to these organizations, you could help make someone’s holiday one hundred times better. Holiday Express allows volunteers to help out at their warehouse in Shrewsbury Township or to donate their talents and attend one of their many holiday concerts around the area. Volunteering at the warehouse consists of sorting through goods that have been donated and making packages of necessities such as clothing and shampoo to be sent out to different locations. But, if you are musically talented, you can choose to sing holiday songs at one or more of their holiday concerts which they host to help get everyone in the holiday spirit. For more information about the organization and details about volunteering, you can visit their website, http://www.holidayexpress.org/ .

Other great organizations that you can volunteer for this holiday season are the Pajama Program and the Salvation Army. The Pajama Program is an organization founded to help distribute pajamas and books to young children in the community who are in need. In order to help out, you can donate any brand new pair of childrens pajamas or childrens books, or you can volunteer at their offices in Poricy Park where you can label books and pack boxes of pajamas for shelters and schools. For more volunteering information, you can visit the pajama program website, http://pajamaprogram.org/ .