Glad tidings from the Common! Looking forward to hitting the beach, playing some frisbee and cricket with the fam on Christmas Day and placing additional prawns on the grill. Oh wait, that’s right you can also visit us – Christmas is a Winter sport in this hemisphere. A commonality between Australia and the US during this season, though, is the urge to give. And there are many ways to fulfill this desire right here in Shreveport Common.

Mercy Center (pictured) just moved back into their beautifully renovated digs on Austen Place a couple of months ago – this is Philadelphia Center’s residential program for the otherwise homeless with HIV/AIDs. Latoya White, Director of Mercy Center, is looking for secret Santas to come bring a gift for each resident (about 14) for each of the twelve days of Christmas. Could be something handmade, a quirky mug, dorky Christmas sweater… cost and size don’t matter, just the energy and consideration. Prospective sneaky St. Nicks can contact Latoya at lwhite@philadelphiacenter.org or (318) 222-6633 (ext 2210).

A couple of weeks ago, I got a cool tour of Providence House – yes I got to meet some of the adoooorable kiddies. They have tonnes of ways to give to this incredibly important organization that houses families who would be otherwise out on their own with no roof over their heads. Firstly, you can adopt one of their 90+ families to buy presents for. Or if you’d rather donate time rather than doubloons, why not volunteer to help wrap the presents that they receive? As year-round options, you can offer to organize an event like a movie night with popcorn, or a themed (Christmas/Easter/July 4) party for the adults, etc. And they’re always in need of paper towels, bathroom items, and floor cleaner – so if you see it on sale then grab it and drop it off there when you can. Contact Christie Lamoureux if you want to make some Christmases merrier: clamoureux@theprovidencehouse.com.

If you want to support the giving cycle, why not donate that old bike you have sitting in the shed to SBC Bike Social’s Bike Co-op so that it can be repaired and loaned for free or donated to someone who just bloody well needs a bike. Contact Sir Speederson at (318) 277-4062.

Have a merry one mates. I’ll just be eating imported cherries and mangoes over here in shorts with a big smear of pink zinc across my nose, trying to pretend it’s Summer.