Now that Halloween has passed, many people are getting into a “holiday state of mind.” Christmas lights and decorations are already erected in some neighborhoods and retail stores have their holiday merchandise on display. You may be starting to plan your holiday meals and parties. And you may be starting to panic, realizing we only have a few weeks before Thanksgiving arrives and less than two months until Christmas.

Time is also running out for agencies like mine — the Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries (DRMM) — that desperately need donations and resources to make the holidays brighter for the homeless and disadvantaged. Can you believe that we will serve more than 300,000 hearty meals this season to people in the Detroit area? When you multiply that number by all of the rescue missions, shelters and soup kitchens across the country, you get an astounding number of meals that are prepared for the nation’s needy during the holidays. And we all need your support and generosity.

Those in need could be your neighbors. They could be your relatives. And they could be your colleagues and friends. Hunger and homelessness know no boundaries. Anyone can be impacted by a bad economy, unemployment, home foreclosures, and broken marriages.

As you go about planning your holiday celebrations over the coming weeks, please keep these individuals and families in your thoughts and prayers. Holidays are a lonely time for the homeless and hopeless. That’s why DRMM and other agencies do whatever it takes to give them great Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners and a home for the holidays.