Maybe you provided a gift to Toys for Tots, donated food or clothing for South Kitsap Helpline, or slipped a dollar into a red kettle manned by a smiling bellringer.

Any of us who do are spreading — and experiencing — the joy of the holiday season.

This year may seem unique, because so many people are still enduring hardships wrought by the recession as they, like the economy, struggle to recover.

But this year is like every other at Christmastime, when the spirit of helping those in need stokes our collective compassion and generosity.

The need to help others who are poor, hungry and homeless is not seasonal, of course, but this special season always seems to make us more keenly aware of their plight. The thought of a family unable to give their children any gifts or put a decent meal on their table motivates us to do what we can to give those folks some Christmas cheer.

Few of us have the means to make a contribution like Debbie and Wayne Macomber’s amazing gift of $500,000 to the Salvation Army — a donation, it should be noted, that the renowned Port Orchard author hoped to make anonymously.

But each of us can help in our own way, and it’s all good.

Even better when it’s fun, such as the Rotary and Soroptimist clubs teaming up for their Port Orchard Cares project, or the Southworth Buccaneers touring taverns to sing Christmas carols and solicit donations for SK Helpline from patrons, or Sherlyn Avenue neighbors holding a food drive with their annual holiday lights extravaganza.

There are many other groups and individuals whose generous contributions don’t get mentioned in the newspaper, and good on you all.

Every gesture, great or small, that makes Christmas Day — or any day — merry and bright for those less fortunate than us is valuable, for the giver as well as the receiver.