A job well done

Better to just miss a high target than hit a low one.

That was the consensus when volunteer managers of Press Christmas for All huddled before Thanksgiving and decided to shoot for the stars. We came up with a fundraising campaign goal of $225,000 - roughly $25,000 more than last year's record collections.

Our reasoning was that with the lingering effects of recession, need would be greater than ever. That part was easy to determine, especially when talking to area food banks and other charities who were seeing demand well over pre-recession times and, in fact, had in some cases double the requests for help over what they'd seen just the year before.

The need would be greater than ever, so we aimed high and asked for more than ever. Granted, the goal of $225,000 was not met, but Press Christmas for All donors should feel wonderful about what they did accomplish.

These remain some of the hardest times any of us have ever experienced financially. Regardless of your political affiliation, there lingers a big cloud of doubt over what the future holds. So some people with money in the bank now are reluctant to let any of it go because they aren't confident they'll have enough if these tough times continue.

But as is the case every single year, the donations did pour in, and the ones that evoke the strongest emotions are the ones that come from those who have the least. These might not be big checks, but they represent a significant percentage of that person's or family's wherewithal. In some cases, it meant going without so others might have something.

The gap between what was spent on gift cards and what was collected from donors will be made up by The Hagadone Corp. Because gift cards must be purchased and distributed before the fundraising campaign has been completed, some years a small balance is carried forward to the next campaign; this year the pendulum swung the other way.

As a community, we aimed for the stars and didn't quite make it. But we did bring a little bit of heaven to thousands of our neediest neighbors, and that's reason to celebrate.