'06 was a year of giving by individuals, businesses and organizations

Merry Christmas! I am writing to each of you who has helped, and not just during Christmas but throughout the year.

It wasn't your duty to help a stranger receive a warm coat, enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner, or pay a single-mother's utility bill. It was the silent character within each of you that prompted you to rise to the challenge of making a difference.

You didn't get an award or a photo in the newspaper, and it didn't matter to you. You are true heroes, and you know who are!

It doesn't always cost money, either. It is the smile you gave to cheer someone who looked sad, a word of encouragement or praise you didn't even think about. The simple call you made helped that child. You had more patience in a traffic jam, letting some one in front of you in the grocery line if she had fewer items, or just saying thank you.

We take for granted those simple acts that truly make this community stand out.

It begins with each of you gift wrapping each day a gift of love, thoughtfulness, joy, empathy for others - make it a habit.

Let's thank the community organizations that host so many benefits: Rotary International, Sunset Rotary, Elks Club, Emblem Club, Lions Club, Soroptimist International, Kiwanis Club, Beta Sigma Phi Club, Salvation Army, Advocates to End Domestic Violence, FISH, Volunteers of America Shelter, churches, sheriff's departments, the firemen's association, RSVP, Ron Wood Family Resource Center, Toys for Tots, Nevada Hispanic Services, Children's Cabinet, Carson Tahoe Regional Auxiliary Club, Southwest Gas Co., Harley-Davidson Financial, Northern Nevada Title, Jeff Creelman Insurance, Carson City Toyota, Carson Nugget, Casino Fandango, Harveys, Harrah's at the lake and so many other companies, organizations and clubs.

Together we make the difference, together we are the change. As Tiny Tim states in "A Christmas Carol," "Merry Christmas, and God bless us, every one."

• SBC Nevada Bell Telephone Pioneers put in more than 7,915 hours providing community service projects. Here are some of the things they did:

• Hug-A-Bears: About 1,300 handmade bears were provided to various organizations for traumatized children and long-term patients in Carson, Lyon and Douglas counties.

• Hospital volunteers.

• Special-education Christmas and Easter parties: Santa and the Easter Bunny pass out gifts and goodies to special-ed students at two schools.

• Talking Books: More than 800 talking books were repaired or serviced for the Nevada State Library, which provides them for people with poor or no eye sight.

• Books: 500 were collected and distributed to needy children.

• Memory Box Artist Program: The Telephone Pioneers sponsor the program, and Carson Valley Desert Brushes creates more than 125 hand-painted memory boxes, which are provided to hospitals for grieving parents to take items home when they have lost a child.

• Dog Bone Pillows: 1,765 handmade neck pillows were given out with magazines and other things at the Carson Tahoe Regional Medical Center.

• Stamp cut-out: Thousands of stamps were given to the Shriners' Children's Hospital.

• Children in Transition: More than 5,000 food item/packets were provided to homeless children through Carson High School's nurse's office.

• Technology and real-life experiences for children: Presentations on why not to smoke and on new technology that allows someone to communicate without a voice box

• Other benefactors: Advocates to End to End Domestic Violence, RSVP, FISH in Dayton, churches and Carson City's Community Emergency Response Team

• To have your information included, contact Kim Riggs at kimriggs@att.net.