Every Christmas season, it’s hard to look anywhere in Suffolk and not find someone doing something for others.

The last few weeks, the Suffolk News-Herald has dedicated large portions of its front page to covering some of these good deeds. Many businesses collected Toys for Tots, and the donations were distributed last week to families in need. Hundreds of individuals, families, groups and businesses have donated to the Cheer Fund, which helps purchase the toys for the Toys for Tots program. Several organizations and workplaces adopted families for the holidays and provided gifts and food. Still other organizations collected donated gifts for seniors, who often get forgotten at the holidays, and passed them out at nursing homes.

These efforts are not unlike events carried out in towns and cities across the country every December. But they have a special effect on the many community members who came together to make them happen and their neighbors who received the gifts.

Though the holiday season is over, don’t expect the goodwill to discontinue. Suffolk continues to grow, but it is still a small town in many ways. The most obvious of these is the way neighbors help neighbors not just during the holiday season, and not just during and after a disaster, but also just any old time someone needs help.

It seems the majority of the community is seeking the intangible benefits that come with helping others. Let’s expand it and keep it going all year long.