Folks across East Alabama are in the Christmas spirit, giving both tangible gifts and the gifts of their time to those in need.

During the Holiday season, I like to highlight some of the generosity of people across the Third District. The following examples are just a few of the inspiring people and organizations we have in East Alabama.

For some families, the back to school season brings the financial stress of buying school supplies. In Ragland, Ms. Eleanor Clinkscales helps ease the pain for some students in need by partnering with local church groups to outfit 100 students with all of their school supplies.

In Cleburne County, the Heflin-based group Helping Every Area Resident to Succeed along with Wedowee-based Reaching Out International provided 600 families with much-needed groceries – all in one day!

Opelika’s Storybook Farm opened a new riding arena in October. The organization serves more than 800 special needs participants every year by allowing the children to participate in games and activities at no cost. The activities aren’t just fun for the children – they also build muscle strength, strengthen fine motor skills and teach compassion.

One Saturday in October, over 500 volunteers from Way 2 Serve Ministries served Lee and Macon Counties through an event called My Jerusalem. My Jerusalem was composed of 31 different projects, including repairing front decks, building wheelchair ramps and throwing block parties. The event is held twice a year.

In Montgomery and Macon Counties, HandsOn River Region, is gearing up for their 34th year of Christmas Clearinghouse. Christmas Clearinghouse allows individuals, businesses and organizations to adopt families in need. Through this program, area families are ensured they don’t have to go without at Christmas.

Randolph Park Elementary students used the Iron Bowl as inspiration to collect canned food for the Anniston Soup Bowl. The students donated in the name of their favorite team, and the winning team got to wear regular clothes for a day! The students collected a total of 650 cans of food.

May these examples remind us how we should live our lives every day. Merry Christmas to you and your families!

Please sign up for my e-Newsletter at www.mike-rogers.house.gov, like me on Facebook at Congressman Mike D. Rogers, follow me on Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram at RepMikeRogersAL, on Tumblr at www.repmikerogersal.tumblr.com and subscribe to my YouTube page at MikeRogersAL03.