By
Bob Brewin
The first e-mail in my inbox today came from Best Buy, which wished me a Happy Thanksgiving and then steered me to a Web page filled deals available if I showed up at one of its stores at midnight on Thanksgiving.
In case you haven't figured it out yet, the shopping day known as Black Friday is an exercise in greed -- by the stores and their customers -- that has now encroached on an American holiday based on giving simple thanks.
If you really want to give thanks, I suggest you reserve some of that Black Friday cash for Operation Covert Santa, focused on providing Christmas gifts for hospitalized injured troops and their families.
Now in its fifth year, Operation Covert Santa, run by Ed Meagher, a former Veterans Affairs deputy chief information officer and now a veep at Computer Sciences Corp., matches helpful elves with injured troops and their families in the best spirit of giving -- anonymously.
Ed collects gift lists from the troops, and then matches them up with elves willing to shop for small families (parents and one child) or large families (parents, and two or more children). Ed will send you a wish list and directions on how to get the gifts to his North Pole outpost.
Or, you can send cash to:
Operation Covert Santa
453 Walker Road
Great Falls, Virginia 22066
If you would like to become an elf and help fulfill these Santa lists or have any questions send Ed an email at huskyelf@cox.net
As Ed says, "This isn't charity. This is simply Santa Claus doing his job."
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