12 ways to give back to Orlando this holiday season
Shed a little light, nourish the community and invest in a better local future
In a fortuitous bit of holiday kismet, this week's Savage Love column saw Dan Savage advising a reader who was feeling a little seasonally blue that "helping others is an excellent way to maintain your sanity." Along those very same lines, we decided to put aside our usual "12 Strays of Christmas" photo essay and instead point out some local organizations that help Orlandoans in need. We've highlighted 12 that caught our eye during this very difficult year — some formed as a result of the pandemic, some trying to keep up their mission amid new challenges posed by it — and they're all doing amazing work worthy of a few of our increasingly scarce dollars. This list is by no means exhaustive, and we both beg your pardon if we've omitted some local dynamos as well as encourage you to make your own "12 Ways" lists. But if you are able, try to give something this year and restore a tiny bit of magic to a very strange holiday season.