This is the season of giving, as evidenced by the many requests for donations you will likely receive over the coming weeks.

Non-profits seeking to save the rain forest or wild horses or sea life or abused animals will solicit your hard-earned cash. And while those may be worthy causes, we encourage locals to look at their own communities before trying to save the world. There are needs right here in Lincoln County.

Over the coming days, the newspaper will highlight groups that work to meet those needs. Our “Season of Giving” series focuses on the efforts of the United Way and its beneficiaries as well as the food pantries that benefit from our partnership with Bank of Brookhaven — Holiday Food Pantry Drive.

In both cases, the organizations are local and exist to help people right here in Southwest Mississippi. Programs that partner with United Way are: The Doll’s House, Ferst Readers, Salvation Army/Greater Hope Foundation, Outreach Ministries, Brookhaven Recreation Department Scholarship Program, Boys Scouts, Girl Scouts and Habitat for Humanity of Lincoln County. The Holiday Food Pantry Drive benefits local pantries that work to feed the less fortunate in this area.

We know you have plenty of choices when it comes to deciding who to help during the holidays. We hope you will consider helping your neighbors this season.

For more information about the United Way, visit facebook.com/UnitedWayofLincolnCountyMS. For more information about the Holiday Food Pantry Drive, call the newspaper office at 601-833-6961. Those donations have already begun arriving and the list of donors will appear on the front page of the newspaper after Thanksgiving.