This is always one of my favorite weeks of the year at Webb Weekly. Not only because I get to stretch my legs (and word count) on page 2, but because of WHY.

Though he wouldn’t want me to tell you, throughout the year Jimmy does a lot for our community. Be it through charities, sporting events, or other sneaky ways, Jimmy helps a lot of people in the course of a year. And I don’t think he gets enough ‘thank yous’ for it. So, before we get to what’s happening in this issue, I want to say thank you to Jimmy. For all that you do and all the people that you do it for, please know that your efforts are seen and appreciated.

For the past couple of years, Jimmy has given each full-time employee a page of the paper to donate to the charity of their choice. We all get to pick something that is near and dear to us and donate ad space, editorial space or a combination of both.

As you can see on the cover, we have a wide variety of organizations from across the area that we donated space to this week. I’m sure that you are familiar with most, and you can learn about what they do in more detail as you read through this issue, but here is a quick rundown:

The Central PA Food Bank – Committed to solving hunger in Central PA by 2025.

The Ronald McDonald House in Danville – Ronald McDonald House of Danville, Inc. shall provide compassionate, temporary, convenient, subsidized housing and related programs for childhood cancer and other patients and families associated with treatment at area medical facilities.

Lycoming Animal Protection Society (LAPS) – Provides care and adoption services for many homeless cats and kittens at its no-kill shelter.

West End Christian Community Center – The West End Christian Community Center (WECCC) works in covenant with Christ to embrace and unify all communities with His love by responding to the spiritual, physical, emotional, and social needs of all those they serve.

Multiple Sclerosis Society – Helping people affected by MS to live their best lives as they stop MS in its tracks, restore what has been lost and end MS forever.

Family Promise of Lycoming County – Family Promise of Lycoming County empowers families to become and remain self sufficient by breaking the cycle of homelessness, provides community awareness and advocacy, and creates mission opportunities for individuals and faith based communities.

YWCA – The YWCA is dedicated to empowering women, eliminating racism, and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all.

Each of these charities means something to the employee that sponsored them. They are all amazing local organizations that are doing what they can to help in our area.

So thank you again, Jimmy. Doing things like this makes me so proud to be a Webb Weekly employee. I hope that as you read through the ads/editorials about these charities, you will consider adding them to your 2019 donation lists if you are able.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to you and yours!

Do you have your resolutions ready to go?

Listen, at the time I’m writing this, I don’t even have my Christmas stuff finished, let alone starting on New Year’s resolutions. Maybe I’ll have something for you next week! Or April. Are mid-year resolutions a thing? Maybe something for 2020?

I do have an update on last year’s resolutions. Last year I mentioned wanting to, “Eat better, move more, stress less.” I did none of these. I generally like to eat terrible food and nap as much as possible, so these were pretty unattainable goals to begin with. However, I also noted that I wanted to get and keep a houseplant alive, and I actually have good news on that front. I got a Snake Plant last year, and I am happy to report that it is still happy, healthy and alive. As long as I remember to dump a glass of water in it every couple of weeks, it seems to be happy! So at least the resolution train wasn’t a total derailment!

Out and about, or in with friends or family, no matter how you plan to ring in the New Year, please be safe. Holidays like New Year’s have a way of bringing out the worst in people, so in addition to taking care of yourself, keep an eye on those around you. Not only for your safety, but also for theirs. It’s easy to think that it isn’t your responsibility to ‘babysit’ others, but wouldn’t it be worth it if it saves their life or someone else’s?

If you are heading out for the evening, please — please — make sure you don’t drink and drive. Download the Uber or Lyft apps before you head out so you can get a safe ride home. Remember even surge pricing is cheaper than fines or the risk of drinking and driving.
Be safe y’all!