Cape Region brims with Christmas spirit

In recent weeks, a group of local photographers, volunteers and members of Coastal Camera Club, has put their skills and equipment to work to set up stations at Delaware Technical Community College to produce family portraits for local families.

In an age of cell phones and selfies, for many people, family portraits are a daily occurrence. Still, nearly 200 Cape Region residents signed up to be photographed and more than 250 prints were produced.

For some families, the framed photo they received is the only portrait they've ever had.

The photographers and volunteers who participate in Help-Portrait were doing what they do best: producing beautiful photographs. At the same time, they brought happiness and Christmas cheer to literally hundreds of Cape Region families who went home with a gift they otherwise would never have received.

Across the Cape Region, businesses, community groups and many individuals are creating and packaging up gifts to help local families. Whether it's through Toys for Tots, Caroling on the Circle and other food drives to fill our local pantries or a church-sponsored giving tree to brighten a child's holiday, the opportunities to help others are all around us, and these opportunities are within reach of everyone.

Local mover Mervin Brittingham is filling up a moving truck with cleaning supplies for Ronald McDonald House, a charity with which he is sadly far too familiar. As our Cape Gazette pages show, businesses, childcare centers and neighborhoods are celebrating the season as they wrap gifts collected for local families.

Christmas is a time of joy, but it can also be a time of deep sadness. So many among us are suffering with illness or the illness of a family member, the loss of a loved one or a family member who is far away. Even so, the weight of such worries can be lifted when we use our talents and skills to help someone else. By doing so, we may share a moment that lightens our own burdens.

Showing concern for someone by taking action, even a modest action, can be what turns the tide and sparks the spirit of the season for others – and for ourselves as well.