Many things have changed for the worse during this tough year. However, hopefully, one good thing it may have given us is a deeper sense of solidarity.

We have seen, in the middle of the pandemic, the heroic selflessness of many doctors, nurses, paramedics, teachers, or supermarket cashiers who have worked harder than ever to help others. We have seen the incredible acts of solidarity from neighbors who barely knew each other before this terrible year.

This week, we will celebrate the strangest Thanksgiving of our lives. Many of us will remember the people we lost and the many difficulties or tragedies we have experienced or seen. But we should be grateful for the heroic kindness we have also seen this year.

After Thanksgiving, we will start preparing for Christmas. We are not sure if we are going to be able to meet with relatives and friends, but we will celebrate the essence of the season — the birth of the Son of Man in a poor manger in Bethlehem. It is also time to start The Tablet’s Bright Christmas Campaign of 2020.

The main goal of the campaign, for over half a century, has been the same — to ensure that no child goes without a gift at Christmas. This year, the campaign has a special urgency. Many families in Brooklyn and Queens have been impacted by the pandemic. We need to help them celebrate Christmas.

I ask you to remember your neighbors this year as you have done for the past 50 years. You have responded year after year with donations that are given directly to priests, sisters, and church groups that work with those in need in Brooklyn and Queens.

Last year, thanks to your generosity, we were able to raise more than $100,000. We are counting on you again. Many of you should already have received a letter inviting you to contribute to Bright Christmas. I hope that you will be as generous as you can be.

We feel honored knowing that so many have adopted The Tablet’s Bright Christmas as their special charity at Christmas. The money we collect during the campaign is given to parishes and groups that apply for help from Bright Christmas

To send your donation, simply make out a check to The Tablet’s Bright Christmas and mail it to:
The Tablet’s Bright Christmas
1712 10th Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11215

You can also make donations online by visiting thetablet.org and clicking on the Bright Christmas link on our home page.

If you are a pastor, parish associate, or director of a diocesan group and you need assistance this Christmas to help children in your area, you should contact me immediately so The Tablet can help. We grant funds only to parish groups and others associated with the Diocese in Brooklyn that ask us for help.

If you have a request, send it directly to:
Editor-in-Chief Jorge Domínguez
c/o The Tablet’s Bright Christmas
1712 10th Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11215

You can also send your request to TabletBrightChristmas@desalesmedia.org.

This is not a toy collection drive and we don’t accept clothing or other material goods for distribution. You send us the money and we put it into the hands of someone who is working directly with people in our neighborhoods.

In turn, they use the funds in the most effective ways for those in their charge. Some buy and wrap presents. Others conduct a group Christmas party. Some share a Christmas meal with their parish families.

The sooner you send the money, the quicker we can share your love with someone who needs it this Christmas.