One of the most benevolent things we can do to help the less fortunate is ensure that they are warm during the winter months, free from the often bone-chilling cold many of us have never experienced.

The Clinton-Sampson Chamber of Commerce is extending just that kind of humanitarian hand throughout the month, and members are hoping many of us in this community will join in the kind-hearted endeavor.

The efforts are centered around the Chamber’s second Coat Closet, a drive which kicks off today and one which will continue until the end of November. Its goal — to collect as many coats as possible to be distributed to those within the community who often do without the warmth many of us so easily take for granted.

Huge appreciation should go to the Chamber, its president, its director and the Coat Closet committee which came up with this wonderful means of outreach that can benefit so many. In its first year, with the help of the community, the Coat Closet was a tremendous success. We, and the Chamber, are hoping this year will even exceed the donations from the first.

As we draw closer to the holidays, where showing gratitude and offering to share much of that we’ve been blessed with in our own lives becomes more prevalent, we often see the need around us more clearly, recognize it more rapidly and respond to it with urgency.

Without question, the last few years have left more and more people out of work and searching for ways to feed their families, provide Christmas gifts for their children and keep warm during times when the temperatures tend to drop below the freezing point.

All it takes is listening to agency leaders across Sampson County to know that those numbered among the most hard-pressed, economically speaking, are growing, and they can often be found just around the corner, perhaps even among our friends and acquaintances.

One of the greatest things about the people in our county is their willingness to respond to the calls for help that go out, and miraculously, the needs are often met.

From charity plate sales and golf tournaments to fall festivals and food drives, when the call goes out, Sampsonians answer time and again.

It is often said to those much is given much is required. Here in Sampson County, the belief in that statement is strong, and action seems to always follow those words.

That’s why we feel certain the Chamber’s Coat Closet will continue to see great success.

So many of us have one, two, three, four or more coats in our closets, some of which we likely haven’t worn in years; others we may never have used.

There are many around us who could greatly benefit from something that is simply taking up space in our own closet. Won’t you go through them, pick out a few and take them down City Market today or later to the Chamber office or one of a dozen or so other locations throughout the county that are dropoff sites? (See Chamber Chat A6 for details)

You’ll be glad you did; but more importantly, someone out there will be far more grateful than you could ever imagine.