Dear News-Sun Readers,

George Houchin, one of the founding pressmen of The News-Sun that started the Help Them To Hope giving campaign, died this past year. He was 93.

During his lifetime, he witnessed the generosity and caring of our neighbors in Lake County. He witnessed folks over the years that have changed the lives of those who have been down and out and in need of a caring hand.

George was blessed to be part of the Help Them To Hope movement from its inception in 1959 and saw the 2015 campaign to its completion.  Since HTTH began, more than $2.5 million has been collected and transferred to local social service agencies to help the less fortunate.

Fifty-six years of public participation was what George was most proud. The legacy George and the pressmen left allow us to witness the countless acts of kindness that have changed the lives of many Lake County residents. As president of Help Them To Hope, I personally worked with the pressmen responsible for the first acts of kindness for Lake County residents.

This holiday season will complete 57 years of supporting one another in Lake County through Help Them To Hope.

At this time of year, I am reminded of  conversations I had with George. It was his wish not to honor him, but rather to ask Lake County residents to continue to make a difference in our little part of the world. He, as with the other pressmen, was the catalyst that made Help Them To Hope a reality and reminds us to look for those who suffer in silence in our own backyard.

Little did these pressmen realize that Help Them To Hope would afford all of us an opportunity to bear witness to those less fortunate that ourselves. This legacy is theirs no longer.

The legacy has been left to each of us in Lake County to make a difference in the lives of those in need. Through Help Them To Hope, social services agencies throughout Lake County are doing whatever they can to change the lives of our kids, our families and the lives of the elderly who need our help.  Help Them To Hope has contributed to over 2.6 million dollars to our local social service agencies.  That is what the citizens of Lake County have done to help neighbors in need.  Bless you all!

We honor the lives of so many that have done so much to change the circumstances that surround the less fortunate. This year will be tough for the agencies doing this charitable work without funding from other sources.
  
Please consider Help Them To Hope in your holiday giving this year.  Countless people are counting on someone like you to give them hope.

Respectfully,
Richard A. Ribando
President, Help Them To Hope, Inc