Season Of Lights And Miracles

Lately, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the word “light” – and it’s not difficult to see why.

Right now, those of the Jewish faith are celebrating Hanukkah (also known as the Festival of Lights), which commemorates a miracle that occurred more than 2,000 years ago: Although there was just enough oil to fuel the rededicated temple’s “eternal light” for one day, it kept burning for eight, which was exactly the amount of time needed for replenishments to arrive.

Meanwhile, those of the Christian faith have just begun the season of Advent, a time of spiritual preparation leading up to Christmas that often includes the use of an Advent wreath and the lighting of a new candle on that wreath each week to represent spiritual gifts like love, hope, joy, and peace.

Light also comes to mind because of our 41^st president, George Herbert Walker Bush, who passed away last weekend. He often used it as an analogy to describe all of the good work that can be done by people– most notably in the famous “thousand points of light” speech that he delivered at the 1988 Republican National Convention, which urged Americans to work together with local service organizations for the benefit and betterment of all. Though often satirized, that phrase ultimately sparked many to community service, and we are all richer because of it.

Not surprisingly, the essential theme of all of these examples really resonates with me, and not just at this time of year.

ALAN’s mission of saving lives through logistics is based on the belief that people want to help those in need – and that the skills, resources, and talents we use in our daily jobs can lighten the load for those affected by disaster. Just as important, our charter to “unify supply chains” for crisis response means that we can take all the individual points of light that our individual companies have to offer and turn them into a larger and more efficient beacon of generosity shining from our profession.

As the darker days of winter approach, we hope you’ll join our commitment to shine brightly. Along these lines, think about donating warehousing or transportation services to a non-profit in your community. Pack boxes at the local food bank. Offer to help sort the toy collection for the agencies in your area. Or help us fill some of the logistics needs that still outstanding from this year’s hurricanes and fires.

In addition, we hope you’ll mindfully consider making a year-end financial gift to ALAN or another organization that matches your corporate values and activities. Contributions like these are a key way we’re able to “keep the lights on” year after year, and each one we receive plays a major role in helping us bring more joy, hope, love and peace to those affected by disaster.

Whether it involves lighting a menorah, stringing up Christmas lights or simply enjoying light-hearted holiday fun, all of us at ALAN hope you have a warm and wonderful December.  May the joy and wonder of this season of miraculous light be yours year-round.

Kathy Fulton
Executive Director