Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas. Here’s how you can help at the holiday | Tuesday Morning Coffee

Good Tuesday Morning, Fellow Seekers.

It’s Christmas Eve. And tonight, millions of Christians all over the world will celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Our Jewish readers are already celebrating Hanukkah. And a little later this week, our Black readers and their families may begin their own Kwanzaa celebrations.

However you celebrate, or however you worship (or don’t), this season of giving is a time to remember those among us who need a hand — whether through a kind word, a meal, or something more substantial. These little gestures only take a moment of your time, but can they can make such a profound difference in someone’s life.

Because we know this can be a tough time of year for too many among us who are contending with loss and grief, we just want to remind you that there’s always hope — and always someone you can reach out to for support. And if you need to talk, the new suicide prevention hotline number is 988.

If you’re thinking about such things, please call. And if you know someone traveling through the darkness, please share that number with them.

And as we did at Thanksgiving, below you’ll find a list of food banks where you can drop off canned goods or other nonperishables.

1.Westmoreland County Food Bank
100 Devonshire Drive
Delmont, Pa.,15626
724.468.8660

2. Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank
1 North Linden Street
Duquesne, Pa.,15110
412.460.3663

3. Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest Pennsylvania
1507 Grimm Drive
Erie, Pa., 16501
814.459.3663

4. Central Pennsylvania Food Bank
3908 Corey Road
Harrisburg, Pa. 17109
717.564.1700

5. Second Harvest Food Bank of Lehigh Valley and NE Pennsylvania
6969 Silver Crest Road
Nazareth, Pa., 18064
610.434.0875

6. Philabundance
3616 S. Galloway Street
Philadelphia, PA 19148
215.339.0900

7. H & J Weinberg NE PA Regional Food Bank
185 Research Drive
Pittston, Pa., 18640
570.908.2222

8. Helping Harvest
117 Morgan Drive
Reading, Pa., 19608
610.926.5802

9. Community Food Warehouse of Mercer County
109 S. Sharpsville Avenue
Suite A
Sharon, Pa., 16146
724.981.0353

Our Stuff.

Elizabeth Hardison leads our coverage this morning with a look at what cuts by the Trump Justice Department portend for rape and domestic violence services in Pennsylvania.

On our Commentary Page this morning, Opinion regular Fletcher McClellan takes a look back at the wild and wooly year for national Democrats — and what that means for 2020.

Elsewhere.
Officials in Chester County, outside Philadelphia, say they’re close to ending homelessness, the Inquirer reports.
Pittsburgh City Paper has other ways to spend the roughly $600K it cost to give Pitt’s chancellor a raise — and a bonus — this year.
Gov. Tom Wolf and LG John Fetterman read their mean tweets for Festivus, PennLive reports.
Former Lehigh Valley Congressman Fred B. Rooney Jr. has died, aged 94, the Morning Call reports.

Here’s your #Merry Christmas, Pennsylvania Instagram of the Day:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B6a6NIXg411/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

BillyPenn profiles a South Philly bakery that’s reaching out to help its neighbors this Christmas Eve.
Bloomsburg University has put all its frats and sororities on probation — and introduced reforms, the PA Post reports.
Ultra-conservative Harrisburg attorney Marc Scaringi, who once ran for U.S. Senate, is mulling a bid for attorney general, PoliticsPA reports. Former Allegheny County Council member Heather Heidelbaugh has already announced she’s running.
Roll Call’s Nathan Gonzeles profiles the U.S. House and Senate election topography for 2020, finding it looks a lot like it did in 2019.

WolfWatch.
Gov. Tom Wolf has no public schedule today — or on Christmas Day, either.

Heavy Rotation.
Without apology, our absolute favorite Christmas pop song: It’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” by Band Aid.

Tuesday’s Gratuitous Hockey Link.
After a wild period that saw Carolina notch three goals in an amazing 64 seconds, the Hurricanes nonetheless fell to Toronto 8-6 on Monday afternoon. Ugh. Never should have tweeted at @JohnForslund.

Yes https://t.co/3VKWtYbxBF

— John Forslund (@JohnForslund) December 23, 2019

From all of us at the Capital-Star, our best wishes for a happy holiday season and a peaceful New Year. The Morning Coffee will be on hiatus until Jan. 2, 2020. It’s going to be a quite a year, indeed. So rest up. See you all very soon.