With the Thanksgiving holiday behind us, the Christmas season has moved into full gear. Some folks are celebrating the start of the season today by watching football games or putting up their Christmas trees. Others are marking the occasion by taking advantage of Black Friday sales in an effort to get a jump on their Christmas shopping.

Clearly, in this season of giving, shopping for gifts will be an important part of just about any observance of Christmas. But for some folks in the area, this Christmas will be an especially painful one. Many people have lost their jobs as a result of the recession. Others have had their pay reduced or their hours cut. Some have lost homes. For many people in such situations, there will be no Christmas gifts this year.

When such situations affect Suffolk families with children, the Cheer Fund is there to help. More than 40 years ago, the Suffolk News-Herald’s Cheer Fund was established to help raise money for toys for underprivileged children throughout the city. For many years, a local advisory board and a few other volunteers worked together to make sure toys were distributed to those who needed them. About eight years ago, the Cheer Fund began teaming up with the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves’ Toys for Tots program, giving the community an even greater resource for helping to improve Christmas for Suffolk children.

Any adult who has ever seen the look of happiness in the eye of a child who has received just the right unexpected gift under the Christmas tree can readily understand the reason that the Cheer Fund exists. But there’s a difference between understanding and supporting.

Today, we want to encourage you to lend your full support to the Cheer Fund. To do so requires little in the way of commitment or sacrifice from most folks. Instead, it requires a resolve to write a check and put it in the mail. Whether for a small amount or a large one is almost less important than the simple fact of financially supporting a deserving community-improvement project.

Please show you care for your community this year with a donation to the Cheer Fund. The happy faces of many children around Suffolk could depend on your support.

To contribute, send a check to Cheer Fund, P.O. Box 1220, Suffolk, VA 23434, or stop by the Suffolk News-Herald’s offices at 130 S. Saratoga St.