Dear Editor,

I celebrated Thanksgiving with my sister and spent the better part of the afternoon on video calls to family and friends. I’m old enough to remember when the idea of video calls seemed like science fiction. It was good to see so many healthy, smiling faces after spending a good part of the past year in isolation.  

As I was leaving on Sunday afternoon we talked about plans for celebrating Christmas this year. Almost in unison we talked about keeping it simple and agreed that neither of us needed presents in order to enjoy this holiday. So we made a pact to concentrate on gratitude, the holiday spirit and the beauty of the season.  

That conversation has been rolling around in my head all week as I’ve listened to reports on COVID, unemployment, and the number of families in desperate financial situations. I listened to heartbreaking stories on food banks in large urban centers where people were standing in line in the frigid pre-dawn for hours on end in the hopes of getting enough food to feed their children for another week while volunteers stressed over the amount of food that was running out with lines of people still blocks long.

We’re seeing unbelievable impacts on local community human services, food banks, senior meal services, clothing distribution centers, and countless other non-profits serving families in need. 

This isn’t happening just in the big cities. Here in our small mountain communities the scale is much smaller, but the need is large. I managed the Gilpin County Food Bank from 2004 - 2006 and I think we served about 35 families for monthly and holiday food box distribution. I stopped by last week to make a donation and couldn’t believe the number of Thanksgiving boxes lining the hallways of the Justice Center.  When I asked how many families they were expecting the next day, I was shocked to find out they were expecting over 200 families. I called the manager of the Nederland Food Pantry today and the story is even worse over there. A year ago, they provided Thanksgiving boxes for 90 families. This year it was 187 and their monthly food distribution has increased to 1,500 families.    

I am so grateful that I have a warm place to live and enough income not to worry when something breaks, or the car needs repairs. 

Today I sent my family the following message:  

“I’d like to propose that we take a break from our traditional sibling gift exchange. I’d like to take the money I would normally spend on you and spread it around to local families in need. Our Food Banks need all the help they can get not just for their monthly food boxes, but also to provide Christmas dinners. Gilpin County Human Services asks their clients to give them lists of things needed for their children and you wouldn’t believe how good it feels to adopt a family for this type of giving. I’m hoping you’ll consider opening up your hearts and wallets and give a gift or two that will really make a difference this year. Don’t forget to take a look in your closets and consider donating to a shelter, agency or thrift shop that will provide free or low cost clothing to those in need, especially warm coats, sweaters, and mittens. Throw in party clothes, a game, or toy just to make someone smile.”

I’d like to offer this same idea to all of you lucky enough to live in these beautiful Colorado Mountains who are currently healthy, safe and sound. There are so many fine agencies and volunteers right here who would welcome any help you can give, both in financial and volunteer support. In addition to the kinds of services I’ve talked about, don’t forget our firefighters who kept so many of us safe as well as those who lost everything, the Red Cross, our first responders, our libraries, and the list goes on and on.

A good comprehensive source for the wonderful folks who step up in time of need can be found at the Peak to Peak Housing and Human Services Alliance website at https://www.p2phhs.org/wheretofindhelp.

I feel so blessed to be a part of this fine human family and wish you all the healthiest and merriest of holidays.

Carole Cardon
Gilpin County