Twas the day before Thanksgiving break, and all throughout Chalmers, not a student was stirring, it had never been calmer. Westside Food Bank containers were placed around campus with care, in hopes that the Harvard-Westlake community would place canned food there.

It was a lackluster showing and it was very clear, that our community was definitely lacking in holiday cheer. Nevertheless a toy drive was well underway, but as of now it seems as though Camp Harmony will have no gifts for their soiree. It is really quite sad that our giving spirit has shown itself to be rather bad.

At Harvard-Westlake, it is sometimes easy to forget the world outside our gates. We wrap ourselves up in the drama of homework, college applications and extra-curricular activities, rarely considering that there are actually issues beyond 3700 Coldwater Canyon. Let’s consider for a moment, that 14.6% of Los Angeles’ population is considered to live below the poverty line, a number that is made with obsolete and outdated estimations (the real poverty line is supposedly three times the current cutoff).

The fact that we can’t bring ourselves to donate canned food for a homeless shelter’s Thanksgiving or a toy for homeless children’s holidays reflects poorly on us as a community. It seems as though we ca inconvenience ourselves enough to only bring our books to school, that we don’t care enough to make an effort to significantly brighten someone’s holidays. Participating in the holiday spirit can extend beyond school; the entire city has an opportunities for us to donate our time and resources.

“Maybe Christmas…doesn’t come from a store Maybe Christmas, perhaps means a little bit more…” thinks the Grinch after he stole Christmas from Who-ville. Yes, Mr. Grinch, you’re definitely right.

The holiday season isn’t only about getting gifts or a school vacation (though indeed valuable presents).It’s also about giving; the giving of food to the less fortunate, or the giving of your time by volunteering.

So though we were rather slow on the holiday cheer uptake, let’s have ourselves a rather un-Grinchy winter break.