Today in The 12 Posts of Christmas, rather than show you a fun video or cool picture, we’re going to take a day to look at the real meaning of the holiday.

Christmas is about giving. It’s about sharing. It’s about making a genuine and generous connection with your fellow humans.

Gift-giving is one way, but there is the selfish element of giving something to someone because of the joy you get out of seeing them receive it. There’s nothing at all wrong with that. It’s a way of expressing love, and we certainly need all the love we can get in this world, especially now.

But I’m talking about giving in a way that seriously improves the quality of life for everybody. It can be through a donation to Manna Meal or Hospice, or it can just be making dinner for a friend who’s down on their luck.

Today I’m going to take this space to plug a couple of GoFundMe pages for friends of mine who could use a helping hand. One has suffered a serious injury from an accident, while the other is working to bring his ailing mother home, so that she can have a better chance at recovering from illness and accidents.

First up we have Brian Diller. Brian is an old friend, dating back to the RFC broadcast radio days in the late 1980s. If you were around then you probably remember him as one of the top musical acts in town. He was “Charleston’s Bruce Springsteen” in many people’s eyes.

Brian is still making and releasing music, which isn’t a shock to regular listeners of Radio Free Charleston. I’ve been playing his new releases regularly and he’s been enjoying life with his wife Eliska in the Pittsburgh area. Brian’s been battling some health issues recently (some of which we discussed in an interview you can read HERE).

A couple of weeks ago he encountered a new health challenge when he fell down a flight of stairs. He broke his foot in four places and fractured his fibula. He nearly tore his foot off.

Of course, health insurance will not cover the entire costs of his recovery. He’ll need special equipment and therapy, plus other expenses relating to the accident as well as every day living expenses for the 4 to 6 months that he will be out of work.

You can read the full story of what happened and how you can help at a GoFundMe page set up by his wife on his behalf.

Another old friend from the original RFC days is Jon Raider, who played with Strawfyssh and other bands. Jon’s mother is battling several issues, the latest of which is a broken hip and shoulder, and he would like to bring her home because he feels that she would not do well in a nursing home enviroment.

I was in exactly the same boat with my mother back in 1997, so I know what he’s going through. This is a major commitment and a huge undertaking, and he could use all the financial help he can get.

Like I said, I know exactly what he’s dealing with here. Back when my mother suffered a major stroke that left her bedridden, I knew she would never be able to survive in a nursing home. She needed to be home, so I put my career on hold and became a full-time caregiver. we had her for more than eight years. I know that she wouldn’t have lasted more than a couple of months in a nursing home.

I don’t regret it one bit, and I had a lot of help. There were more resources available back then, and it was still a struggle. Today it’s even harder as home healthcare programs have been scaled back or eliminated outright so that “job creators” can pay lower taxes while shipping more jobs overseas.

But I’m getting a little off-topic here.

Back to Jon and his mother, you can read about his situation and donate at his GoFundMe page.

These are just two worthwhile causes. There is a whole world of them out there. I hope that, if you know Brian or Jon, or enjoyed hearing their music on Radio Free Charleston, you consider making a donation, in the true spirit of Christmas.