Thanksgiving is upon us, and with the way big retailers keep moving up their push for more and more money, we’re already being urged to get in the Christmas spirit by racking up big credit card bills.

It can be easy to get caught up in the consumerism, but we all know that isn’t the way to really celebrate the coming of Christ. Christ spent much of His ministry helping the helpless, the sick, and the outcast. So what better way to celebrate Christmas than by helping others? Marion County got off to a good start on that with the Marion County Toy Run, collecting toys to brighten the season for less fortunate children, and there are sure to be more events celebrating the real spirit of Christmas to come.

Hoch Publishing Company, which publishes this newspaper, has had a relatively good year: our circulation and advertising revenues are up for the year. With that in mind, we’re looking for nominations for local causes that need help, to which we will donate $1,000 this Christmas season. It could be a charity that works in Marion County. It could be a civic group, like the Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts. Or, it could be an individual or family in need.

Thanks to the support of The Lumberyard, Great Plains Federal Credit Union, Prairieland Partners, Smith Chiropractic, and potentially others over the next five weeks, we have included a nomination form on the back page of the newspaper. Nominations will begin this week. A panel assembled by the Marion County Record, Hillsboro Star-Journal, and Peabody Gazette-Bulletin will determine how to do the most good with the $1,000. Recipients will be announced in our Christmas edition Dec. 21. It may be $1,000 for a single cause, or $500 for each of two causes, or any other combination adding up to $1,000. The only requirement is that the cause — whether it is a charity, family, or civic group — be in Marion County.

To encourage nominations, each reader 18 or older who nominates a cause will be entered in a weekly drawing for a gift certificate worth up to $25 from any of the supporting businesses.

So send us your nominations. Everybody knows someone or some group that could do a lot of good with $1,000. All it takes is the time to fill out a nomination form with who you think would make the best use of $1,000 and why.

— ADAM STEWART