'Tis the season..for helping others

Well, the holiday season is upon us, and I wanted to take this opportunity to stray from the usual off-road related topics to mention another important subject - helping others. Most folks are spending these days finalizing their holiday shopping, visiting with friends and relatives, and attending holiday parties. But there are many people out there who are not as fortunate as the rest of us, and the holiday spirit helps many of us spread the generosity and good-will we receive, to those who are less fortunate.

Dirty Parts was honored to be a sponsoring vendor for the 5th annual Toys 4 Tots event, which was held on December 11th and 12th,  at Camp Pendleton this year. Thanks to the involvement of several Marines on base with various off-road groups, we received permission to hold the event at Lake O'Neill on the base.This beautiful area is usually reserved for the families of troops stationed on the base, so the opportunity to camp overnight was a real treat. There were about 100 off-road equipped vehicles in attendance - from Pinzgauers, Jeeps, Landcruisers, and Sportmobiles, all gathering to help out under-privileged children celebrate the holidays in style.

The off-road community came together, in force, for the benefit of these kids , collecting an amazing 1,003 toys to distribute to those in need. Congratulations to Dave Druck, from the Adventure Duo, for putting together this successful event, and to all the other sponsors for their participation and contributions. A job well done, for a great cause.

I'm looking forward to seeing many more of my friends, customers, and off-road fanatics at next year's Toys 4 Tots event - you'll be glad you were there to help.

This weekend I had the opportunity to participate in another fantastic event, put on by another selfless organization - Operation Gratitude. This group was formed to provide care packages for all U.S. Troops overseas, and since it's origin, over 750,000 care packages have been packed and shipped to our men and women in the armed forces stationed all over the world. The folks at Operation Gratitude do an unbelievable job organizing the hundreds (actually thousands this weekend) of volunteers to pack up all sorts of donated goods into boxes, ready to ship out to our brave soldiers all over, in order to make them feel a little more of the holiday spirit we all celebrate at home. A very worthy cause, and an awesome event to attend and assist. Like most good causes, Operation Gratitude can always use more help, and more money. While the weekend volunteer packing sessions are on hiatus until next April, funds are desperately needed to cover the cost of postage to ship these good will care packages to military bases nationwide, for transfer overseas. It costs $15 per package to ship, so Operation Gratitude can use your help to cover this expense. For more information, go to OPERATION GRATITUDE . It's the least we can to for those who dedicate their lives to protecting our freedom here in the U.S.

Thank you for allowing me to divert from the usual off-road related topics to talk about these two terrific events.  I wish everyone a fantastic holiday season, and hope everyone gets the chance to spread the holiday spirit to someone less fortunate.

For updates on future off-road events, check out

"SPOSORED EVENTS" 

on the Dirty Parts website ( www.dirtyparts.com)