Big hearts win big challenge

We are blessed to live in a region full of small towns and big hearts.

We see that over and over again throughout the year as our friends and neighbors dig deep in support of good causes.

And a local group has helped put our region on the national map for just that reason. But they were just telling everyone what we already knew here at home.

The Poplar Bluff Heroes team was recognized last weekend as one of four in the nation to reach a $250,000 fundraising goal for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. The others who reached the same goal came from far larger communities and teams.

Where our Poplar Bluff group did their work with about a dozen core volunteers, others in the group had teams as large as 164 from big corporations.

“It’s really a testament to the community and the people that know what St. Jude is all about, really,” team captain Miranda Fickert told the Daily American Republic. “We got a lot of donors that were first-time donors, and we got a lot of donors that had already given for the year, too. There are just a lot of giving people.”

We want to thank everyone who opened their hearts and wallets for this cause, and all of the team members who stepped up to take on this enormous challenge.

Christmas is officially two weeks from today and as days grow shorter in the annual giving season, please continue to remember the many worthy causes in our area that rely on our donations to do good works.