Lest anyone think that Thanksgiving gets short-shrifted and is just something to be gotten through before we can begin celebrating Christmas, let us linger over giving thanks a little longer.

This will be easy to do, courtesy of some lovely letters of gratitude written by students in Downers Grove. They were the result of an American Education Week resolution regarding Community Partners in Education, issued by the Downers Grove District 58 Board of Education under its president, Joseph A. Leo.

The resolution reads, in part, that board members express their gratitude “to the many organizations and groups in Downers Grove that give so generously of their time, expertise, financial support and facilities to help us provide the best possible educational experience for each and every one of our students.”

The Noon Lions Club received thank you letters from members of Colleen Sciacca’s sixth-grade class at Whittier Elementary School. These letters were accompanied by a cover letter from Whittier school principal Linda Welch, which referenced the resolution. Lions Club President George Swimmer shared the students’ letters with Lions Club members and their guests at the group’s recent holiday luncheon.

Among other things, the group was thanked for its financial contributions to the clock at the Main Street Train Station and to the Fishel Park Bandshell, for sponsoring the new teachers’ luncheon and annual Halloween parade, and, of course, for aiding the sight- and hearing-impaired.

One student said her teacher declared the new teachers’ luncheon “awesome.” Others mentioned the Lions Club sponsorship of the YMCA, Little League Baseball, and Girl and Boy Scout camps. Another student marveled at the Lions Club raising “hundreds of dollars just to give it away.” One girl shared information on her own philanthropic efforts. She painted some watercolors, which she sold, and donated the money she earned to the Angelman Syndrome Foundation, but stated that she wants “to do more around the community” to help.

Another young woman explained that she admires the Lions Club’s work with the blind and recognizes its importance because she has a beloved aunt who is legally blind. One young lady said she has had some of her best memories in connection with the Halloween parade and said the Lions Club is “amazing” for everything it does. A young man in the class said that when he is older, he and a friend will donate items to the Lions Club because “it feels good to help people.”

It also feels good to be thanked, as Lions Club members who read these letters can attest to, and feel thankful that so many students in Downers Grove — in classrooms everywhere from kindergarten through high school — know how to be appreciative of others and to be helpful themselves.

Thanks-giving will make for a Merry Christmas!