Before I share a new project that I am excited about, I want to take a moment to thank the generous donor(s) who read my piece last week about 12 Days of Christmas Giving and the Ritter Family, who needed support for a critical bone marrow transplant for a father struggling to fight leukemia.

In response to the article, a generous person or family (not sure which) decided to pay it forward and gave an amazing $7,655, which was the remaining amount needed to reach the $8,000 the family was seeking to raise for the transplant. Whoever you are, thank you, thank you, thank you!

As you can see, giving back to my community and helping others is something that is very important to me. When I learned earlier this year that 1 in 5 children in the U.S. – that is 16 million – struggle with hunger, I decided to step up my efforts to be involved in efforts to end childhood hunger.

In September, I went out to Main Street in Old Town Newhall during the Farmers Market and Art Walk to do a Pop Art project to raise awareness about hunger in the U.S. and in the Santa Clarita Valley, and to collect canned food items to donate to Help the Children and the SCV Food Pantry, the two key local agencies helping to provide food to those in need in Santa Clarita.

Next Tuesday, I head back to Old Town Newhall for SENSES on Main’s “Winter Folly.” I will be encouraging you to Make A Wish for No Kid Hungry and to add your wish to our Wishing Tree – and to tweet your wish as part of a No Kid Hungry Tweet-A-Thon that I am participating in. (Or I can tweet for you if you are not a tweeter person.) In return for your wish, you will get a kiss. Well, actually you will get something even better – mistletoe – with kisses sure to follow when you use your mistletoe on your special someone.

So, on Thursday, Dec. 20, pull those tacky, obnoxious holiday sweaters out from the bottom of your drawer for SENSES’ Winter Folly. We will be giving you a chance to win a gift certificate to Mountain High.  You won’t want to miss the three-piece alternative band, Stonefeather, your chance at staying on the mechanical snowboard, the fantastic gourmet food trucks, or the warm adult beverages.  The evening events start at 7 p.m. on Main Street, between Market Street and 6th Street, in Old Town Newhall. (Plus, you will get to meet me.)

I truly hope you will come out and Make A Wish for No Kid Hungry. If you cannot come out to this fun event, you can always go to [No Kid Hungry] and take the pledge. As the results of last week show, even something small can end up making a big difference. Happy Holidays!

Jennifer Fischer is co-founder of the SCV Film Festival, a mom of two, an independent filmmaker and owner of Think Ten Media Group, whose Generation Arts division offers programs for SCV youth. She writes about her parenting journey on her blog, The Good Long Road. Her commentary is published Saturdays on SCVNews.com.