I am so thankful this holiday. What a wonderful place Auburn is to live and raise a family.

It is a city where the mayor, city council and city hall have transparency, ease of access and work hard to inform citizens of community issues and the work being done on residents’ behalf.

It is a city where the leaders of our area’s religious institutions gather together for common good, regardless of faith or denomination.

It is a city where citizens are truly interested and involved with protecting the needs and sharing the suffering of their neighbors and fellow residents.

Our city has been hit hard with tragedy, hardships from an economic downturn, two striking unions and weather-related damages. But in light of it our city keeps going, ever the optimist, in an effort to solve problems and improve our lives.

Great examples of this are Auburn’s Big Give and Tuesday’s Holiday Basket Giveaway.

There is no reason why any man, woman or child should go hungry in Auburn. I have seen the outpouring of support myself. The Lakeland Parents Meetup group (with 70-plus members) has worked hard these past two months to help raise donations for the Auburn Food Bank. Each time, with the gracious support of Top Foods in Lakeland, we have been able to raise more than 1,200 items (enough to completely fill an SUV) in under five hours.

But it is not enough. When families line up in freezing temperatures before the food bank opens and wait for hours in the lobby in the hopes of not being turned away, then we are still not doing as much as we can. When the food bank sees 150 or more families a day requesting help and assistance, then I know that the residents of our city can do more.

Imagine if other people realized that they, too, can make a difference in preventing hunger in Auburn? There are plenty of food drives going on, and I encourage everyone to make any donation so that no one goes without this holiday season.

Please, every little bit helps.

– CoreyAnn Khan