They need your help

Doesn't seem possible.

We're in the last full week of fundraising for Press Christmas for All, and boy, do we have a long way to go.

As of this writing, the 26th annual campaign hasn't even reached the halfway point of attaining its $225,000 goal, and it's substantially behind last year's drive on this date. That doesn't bode well for the record number of individuals who are hoping to receive help and ensure every needy child in Kootenai County has a merry little Christmas.

May we tell you a little more of a story we published recently?

One of this year's applicants described how fortunate she and her disabled husband, a military veteran, were to receive help last year. She is 55 and physically disabled; he is 63.

She told us that when they went to pick up their gift card - the only way they could afford anything at all for Christmas - some generous benefactor had also brought free Christmas trees for whoever wanted one.

This couple found a tree that was as barren of needles as the head of a certain journalist we know is barren of hair. The woman remarked that the tree looked just like Charlie Brown's, only Charlie's had more needles. Of course, they took that one home.

In addition to a present for each other, they used their gift card to purchase one box of tinsel. Very carefully, they draped tinsel over every branch, presumably making both the tree and the humans feel better. They played some Christmas music, admired the tree and the gifts under it, and the woman told us that it was the most memorable Christmas they'd ever known.

You, dear donors, make those memories happen.

Let's keep making them.