At Catholic Charities, each and every day, we meet the mothers and fathers who represent the 47 percent living in poverty in our communities -- those parents struggling to feed their families, to pay their rent, to provide good educations for their children. We meet our neighbors, who as the winter cold approaches, are faced with the difficult decision to "heat or eat."

And with help from many, we respond.

This is especially true at Thanksgiving, when we are able to provide food for holiday dinners to nearly 5,000 families living across the archdiocese. Of course, we do this with a lot of help from our friends. United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley, the Greater Boston Food Bank, along with volunteers from parishes, companies and schools across the region all join together with us as we pack bags of food and turkeys for distribution. Our own Cardinal Seán is among the hundreds who volunteer their time in this huge effort.

Sadly, once Thanksgiving is over, the need will still remain as families prepare for the Christmas holiday, followed by the harshest days of winter.

Already we are receiving requests from families for Christmas holiday help, most asking, not for expensive toys or electronics, but rather for warm coats and boots -- items too expensive for increasingly tight family budgets. And we know that with prices for everyday necessities continuing to rise, we will be asked to fill the gap for many more of those in our communities struggling to meet their basic needs.

I recently had the good fortune to hear Geoffrey Canada, President and CEO of the Harlem Children's Zone Project, speak about his work providing high quality educational and social services for families in Harlem. He reminds us all that it is absolutely essential that we work together, especially during tough times.

Looking ahead, it seems to be the only way there is to make a real difference.

For more information on ways to work together with Catholic Charities go to www.ccab.org.

Debbie Rambo, LICSW is the president of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Boston.