One of the things we love about the holidays is the heightened awareness of the need to help other people. It’s amazing to think that just when we’re the busiest, with shopping and planning and cooking and wrapping and running around, we’re also looking for ways to help people for whom the holidays don’t bring as much joy. We like to attribute it to the remarkableness of the human spirit, which continues to surprise us almost daily.

Our Keller Williams market center reaches out every year to help a local family, and this year we have a giving tree in the lobby. We’re also helping a couple of adoptable pets at Geauga’s Rescue Village. Our staff and agents always step up big, but if you’re looking for an easy way to help someone please feel free to stop by.

Past that, there are lots of ways you can help other, this season and all year. CBS Cleveland has a list of ways to volunteer.

Greater Cleveland Volunteers has some other suggestions, like answering phones and helping with seniors.

And more here from BVU, like a Christmas banquet and Santa’s Workshop.

And if you specifically want to help veterans, here are some ways.

Doing Good Together .org has some holiday volunteering tips. One such tip is to create a year-long volunteering calendar, whereby you spread your holiday cheer throughout the year. This is especially great to do with children, to instill the giving tradition at a young age.

And lastly, there are myriad moments in a day or a week to do the little things that spread cheer to others, such as thanking volunteers you meet every day, or giving someone a ride to the airport, or looking in on a friend who may need a little cheering up. And it never hurts to take a plate of cookies.

We wish you a very terrific Christmas, Hannukah, Holiday, cookie baking, family visiting, gift giving, volunteerism season. And most of all a healthy, happy, prosperous 2017.