With Christmas fast approaching, several charitable efforts around the Marquette area and throughout the Upper Peninsula have shown that the community in Superiorland is willing to step up to the plate in times of need.

Anyone who has been reading The Mining Journal over the past few weeks will no doubt be aware of the Journal’s annual Cheer Club campaign.

Donations have poured in to the Journal offices over the past few weeks and are still showing no signs of slowing down.

Beyond the buzz of excitement in the Journal offices, the annual Teddy Bear Toss, organized by former Journal publisher Jim Reevs took place two weekends ago at the Berry Events Center during a Northern Michigan University vs. Ferris State hockey game. The yearly tradition sees members of the crowd throw teddy bears and other stuffed animals on the ice during intermission, which were then donated to the Salvation Army and St. Vincent de Paul.

Local schools have gotten in on the action as well, with the Marquette Alternative High School holding its 13th annual Rock the Socks campaign earlier this week. Students from MAHS collected nearly 8,000 pairs of socks to donate to local charity organizations in just a matter of weeks.

“We have the community get together and donate socks,” said MAHS junior Violet Mattson. “We did fliers this year to promote that. Then we deliver the socks to all the houses that need it like: Beason House, the Warming Center, Janzen House and all those places. It’s just a really nice thing to do, because most people (in need) don’t have socks.”

The MAHS students loaded a school bus full of the collected clothes and headed to donate them at the Marquette St. Vincent de Paul Society Store, Janzen House, Women’s Center, Room at the Inn and Beacon House.

These charitable efforts highlight what is best about Superiorland: the people and the community. We all understand that our neighbors can need a helping hand from time to time and the community shows up every single time.