Dear Santa:
Hi, it's Captain Debbie from The Salvation Army in Williamsport. It's 9 p.m. and, as usual, it's been another long day.
I just finished counseling a young woman I ran into at Starbucks whose depression about all the stresses in her life are leading her to continually contemplate suicide.
I hope I was able to offer her some encouragement, support and a few skills to help her manage to take each day, one at a time. Maybe she'll join us at Adult Bible Study or women's group this week. I'm glad she trusted me and gave me her phone number.
I'll have to give her a call to follow up and invite her to those activities again. As I reflect on the past couple of weeks, Santa, I have to tell you God is so good!
I am especially blessed by our recent nursing home visits. That new, young family that has been coming to church every week now is so energetic. They have brought their 5-year-old daughter with them both weeks to volunteer with the elderly folks and to see the love they pour out and share is so amazing!
And the blessings just continue. When I went to our women's auxiliary meeting yesterday, two of the ladies made a variety of blankets for us to share with the folks when we go to the nursing homes, and they said they were going to make more. It seemed like some of the other ladies wanted to get involved, too. Wow, they already help so much by volunteering as much as they do at our thrift store.
I'm just so thankful for the people who want to help us "Do the Most Good." I believe it's going to be a good Christmas, despite the need, because the people of this community really want to help!
Talk to you again soon, Santa.
Your friend,
Captain Debbie
Please help by giving generously to the Sun-Gazette and the Salvation Army Santa Fund.
You can help make this a brighter holiday season for local families by making a contribution in person to any branch of M&T Bank or by mail to M&T Bank at 405 River Ave.; at the Salvation Army, 457 Market St.; or the Sun-Gazette office, 252 W. Fourth St., Williamsport, PA 17701.
The Santa Fund is a fundraiser organized by the Sun-Gazette and the Salvation Army to help local families in need.
