By Sandy Morris Friendship Baptist Church members are inviting everyone to attend the church’s fifth annual “Harvest Acres” this Saturday, Nov. 21, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

By Sandy Morris The traditional community-wide Thanksgiving service will be held this Sunday, Nov. 22 at First Christian Church.  The event is open to the entire community.  The program will begin at 6:00 p.m. with Brad McBee, pastor of First Christian Church, leading the attendees in song.

By Sandy Morris The Albany Ministerial Alliance is accepting applications for Christmas baskets from Shackelford County residents who wish to be included in the annual drive.

By Sandy Morris Christmas shoebox season is here and several local congregations are participating in Operation Christmas Child as part of the Samaritan’s Purse Ministries.

By Sandy Morris Local residents can help the Abilene Salvation Army with Thanksgiving meals by bringing homemade or purchased pies to the First United Methodist fellowship hall beginning Thursday, Nov. 19 through 10:00 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 23.

By Sandy Morris The 2020 Believe Tree for Teens applications are due at The Feed Store this Friday, Nov. 20. The Albany Ministerial Alliance is the sponsor for the tree which provides gift assistance for Shackelford County junior high and high school students.

By Sandy Morris & Lynsi Musselman Albany Chest directors continue to be very concerned about this year’s slow progress toward the $41,000 goal. This week, the campaign saw only a $200 increase from last week’s ending total, bringing the current balance up to $7,670.

By Sandy Morris The holiday season is here, and there are several opportunities to help others in the community. Special Gift Drive The Wallace Insurance Agency of Breckenridge is hosting a Christmas gift drive for local students in Albany and Breckenridge.

By Lynsi Musselman Albany’s Cause for Paws helps keep the stray animal population under control by contributing towards the cost to spay and neuter local dogs and cats. However, the non-profit is struggling to keep up with the requests for assistance, and they are asking for help themselves.

The News will be printing Santa letters and holiday essays in the Christmas issue to be published on Thursday, Dec. 24. Students at Albany and Moran schools will be writing letters at school, which will be submitted to the News office by their teachers.