Happy Thanksgiving, COLA. Miranda + Sam here. Earlier this month, we encouraged y’all to share your stories + photos of how you give back to COLA, as a way to highlight and thank those who show love to our city. And that got us thinking… what are we here at COLAtoday thankful for?

“I’m thankful for everything from my husband + dog’s embrace when I come home each day, to my family, friends and support system who keep me going on the daily.” – Miranda

“I am thankful for my little tribe of friends and family – the ones who know the camera eats before them, the ones who accompany me to events all over town, and the 4-legged ones who still love me when I come home late. I’m also super thankful for everyone who tags me in photos of deviled eggs in Columbia.” – Sam

Whether it be volunteering at a particular organization, assisting those less fortunate in your neighborhood, or even just making sure your trash can lid is securely closed to keep our streets clean – here are a few ways y’all make COLA a better place*:

Kinetic Church | Photo provided

“I hope it is acceptable for us (Harvest Hope) to nominate as a local non-profit. We see a lot of volunteers come and go in our organization and there’s one particular group that sticks out to our volunteer staff. Kinetic Church, with Kevin Huston as the lead, has been a huge help to us during our Saturday packing events. We typically need around 100 volunteers for our senior box packing events. We pack around 2,000+ boxes of product for our Senior Feeding Program. It is a big volunteer event and we need all the help we can get. We know every time that Kinetic Church will always show up with about 8 people to help us out.

It might not sound like much to help clean and show up with a smile but in our world, working with volunteers every day, those simple easy things mean the absolute world to us!” – Kara P.

Fish Bulletin Board in Richland County school | photo provided

“I'm one of many Reading Matters tutors helping children one hour a week during the school year with their reading skills in Title 1 schools throughout Richland County as part of the Reading Matters tutoring program supported by the Fellowship of South Carolina Bishops.

The Fellowship represents members of the Lutheran, Episcopal, Roman Catholic, United Methodist and AME churches.” – Allison A.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B4pnKecHASA/

“This past year, I’ve had the opportunity to promote mental health awareness through the End the Silence program with NAMI South Carolina. This program allows me to speak with students, family members, and friends about the importance of speaking up when you are struggling with mental health. In addition, I have been able to promote mental health awareness through helping Girl Scouts in the area earn their Mental Health Awareness Patch through the International Bipolar Foundation.

In addition, I have been able to give back to our local Children’s Hospital by raising almost $3,000 through multiple local fundraisers, including a Pint Night at Steel Hands Brewery.

The thing I may be most proud of though is I have started a local philanthropy account on Instagram (@TheLittlePhil) to encourage people in the Midlands to give back to our community, just for the sake of being kind.” – Yvannah G.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B4nAJOFAUIr/

“When I was reading your post for today, I was thrilled to see that you will be sharing about how we are all giving back to this community that we love so much. My coworker, Kristi Garnett, decided she wanted to spearhead a Socktober giving event in our office for October. She contacted Transitions Homeless Center and they were delighted to hear that we would be collecting socks for the homeless here in the Midlands. We have an office of about 175 employees and we also opened it up to all of our BullStreet neighbors. She set a goal of 1000 socks (500 pairs) which I thought this was a very ambitious goal. As the month went by the socks began rolling in, but by Oct. 30 we were only at 184 pairs. Someone suggested she ask for Venmo contributions to make it easier for people to give. She sent out a “one day left and you can give by Venmo if you like” email and she received more socks and $350 in contributions! We were able to buy some nice socks at Target.com for $1 per pair so we were able to make it to her 1000 sock goal!” – Lisa W.

Being just a team of two, we know that a little hard work can go a long way. And in the spirit of giving, on behalf of all our readers, we will be donating to NAMI. While it was a difficult choice – as we wish we could give back to all those in need. NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) is dedicated to offering support, education, advocating + improving the quality of life for people with mental illness and their families.

*Quotes have been edited for length.

Thank you again to all the organizations and individuals who give back to our community each and every day. Here’s to us coming together to give a little more thanks this season to those who need it most.