Editorial: 'Believe Project' is especially relevant for 2020

It is understandably popular these days to grumble about 2020 and the hardships and losses that have characterized this bizarre and troubled year. Now, as we approach the year's end, we find ourselves staring into the multi-chambered horrors of a sudden massive new surge in virus infections and the deaths that come with it. Amid the prospects for renewed lockdowns, more business restrictions and a holiday season during which we may be called upon to show our love for friends and family by steering clear of them during the calendar's most precious days, we can see cause to complain for many months to come.

But there is reason to take heart, too.

The growing evidence for breakthroughs in the hunt for a vaccine obviously is a key development focused on the specific source of our discontent. But beyond such welcome practical signs, we also have conspicuous reminders of basic values of compassion and generosity that are on display at almost any time and in any year. One of those is under way now, as the Daily Herald prepares to launch its seventh annual venture into the Believe Project in partnership with Carolyn Gable, a former Lake Zurich businesswoman who inspired the effort and continues to help sustain it.

One of the things that makes this undertaking special to us at the Daily Herald is that it uniquely taps into our goal to foster good will in our communities in a way that goes beyond merely generating interest in some endeavor or encouraging people to support or contribute to it. The Believe Project truly is a community effort. It doesn't call on people to give to some worthy but nebulous cause. It calls on them to look around in their own neighborhood, in the sphere of their own lives, to identify people who need a specific boost and help direct a little positive energy their way.

You can join in by dropping us a note in 150 words or fewer describing someone especially deserving. Every day in December, we'll tell one of the stories, whether it be about someone enduring a hardship, someone who just needs a helping hand or someone who deserves attention for spreading succor and joy. If you submit one of the stories we select, we'll send you an envelope containing a $100 bill to pass along to the person you described.

To tell us who you think deserves $100, visit https://events.dailyherald.com/believe/ no later than Friday, Nov. 27.

This is really a sweet way to help make our community a better place, and, while such efforts are always fitting during the holidays, it couldn't arrive this torturous year at a more appropriate time. We are grateful to Gable for making it happen and glad to be able to tell the remarkable stories this project produces every year. And, of course, we're proud to be associated with all of you who help show that whether hardships come in the midst of a pandemic or just any run-of-the-mill year, there are friends and neighbors nearby, ready and eager to do what they can to ease them.