With Black Friday sales officially in the rearview mirror, only a few weeks remain in the season of giving.

Local charities hope that in the middle of the holiday rush each of you will pause to think about the needs of others, even strangers in our community and gift — money, time or expertise. All three things are critical to the success of non-profits and few of those groups ever have enough money, volunteer time or volunteer expertise.

But the time between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day is a critical time for a number of local charities. That’s why they hope you’ll crack out your checkbook or step up to volunteer this year.

Today we launch our annual Season of Wishes series. Beginning today, we’ll publish the story of a local non-profit in each edition of The Democrat; included with each article will be information on what the charity needs most and how you can help.

Rarely do most people pause to think about the less fortunate in our community, but the need is substantial.

The beautiful part of the holiday season is that we can all reflect the love our heavenly Father so graciously provided to us by offering love and grace to others through our charitable gifts and our time.

As the Season of Wishes series gets under way, please remember that many local charities will not survive without the help of those of us more fortunate.