Halloween is Monday, and it officially kicks off the 2011 holiday season. So that means we've got Thanksgiving on the horizon, and Christmas will be here before we know it.

These holidays are great traditions, make no mistake. It's nice to spend time with the family and eat a little too much home-cooked food from time to time.

A day or two off from work is nice too.

But we need to remember that the holiday season isn't all fun and punpkin pie. For some people in our community, this is a stressful time of year. Finances are tight, and some families can already barely make ends meet. The most wonderful time of the year can become the single most stressful time of the year in heartbeat.

Of course, in the true spirit of the holidays, many members of our community are rising to the occasion to help make the holidays happy. They are hosting food drives to help stock local food pantries, toy drives to help make sure every child gets a visit from Santa on Christmas and other charitable efforts.

Keep an eye on our community calendar, where we'll be featuring these upcoming drives. You can submit your own events to news@covnews.com, and we'll add them to the list.

The News is also offering a helping hand to the community. We're hosting a canned food drive, and anyone who comes in with a donation will be featured in a new feature we'll be starting called Holiday Helpers. We'll run the name of anyone who donates to the cause, be it one can or 100. Anonymous donations will also be accepted.

Help us make the holidays perfect for everyone.