Welcome to the November issue of the Kids' Directory!  In this season of Thanksgiving, I would like to take a moment to thank each of you, our readers and our advertisers, for making each monthly issue of the Kids’ Directory a possibility. It is truly a pleasure to put this publication together each month.

In my travels over these recent months, the conversations I have engaged in have had a common thread that is all too familiar to all of us. We all face similar concerns over the economic climate and the challenges of raising our families. Discussions revolve around political issues, rising gas prices, unstable housing markets and more. But one of the conversations that concerns me most is that so many of our support services are having more difficulty keeping up this year with the rising demand for services.

The shelves of our food pantries are bare. Donations to charitable organizations are down. Volunteer hours at local organizations are decreased as many have been forced to return to work or increase work hours. So during this season of Thanksgiving, I challenge each of us to dig deeper and find a way to do a little bit more. If each of our Kids' Directory readers can donate one bag of groceries to a local food pantry or make a small monetary donation to a Fuel Bank or donate a coat to Warm the Children, we can make a difference in helping our neighbors during these challenging times. During this season of Thanksgiving, let us give thanks with a grateful and generous heart even if it means a small sacrifice on our own parts. Blessings to each of you.

There are some exciting opportunities coming up in our area for women this fall.  The Women & Family Life Center located in Guilford is sponsoring a dynamic series of lectures on Women in Politics.  This is certainly an exciting year for women in the political arena and everyone seems to have an opinion.  The discussion series called "Share Our Voices" is an opportunity for women to gather with some very esteemed women who have served in a variety of political positions here in Connecticut to talk about a woman's role in the political process and just how important it is that we be informed and involved.  For more information, visit the Women & Family Life Center page here on our site and then link out to their site to see all the wonderful programs they have to offer for women and families.