If you read our editorials regularly you know we spend a lot of time calling for improvements: In how we treat immigrants and refugees; in policies that criminalize and demonize whole subsets of people; in how public officials (and presidential candidates) mischaracterize Latinos, or fail to represent us.

It would be easy, at this precise moment in time, to write another editorial calling out something egregious. The wrongheadedness of the vote this week to change the visa waiver program so that now Syrians and Iraqis (and their children) are penalized. Or the baffling decision Mayor Michael Nutter made to modify his executive order on police-ICE collaboration in Philadelphia. 

It would be easy to decry the ongoing operation of family detention centers where children spend their lives behind bars for no reason other than their parents dreamt of a better life. 

Or we could take a moment to note the recent report about the negligible representation of Latinos on U.S. senatorial staffs (not to speak of the paucity of actual Latino senators).

You can actually read all the aformentioned AL DÍA stories online at aldianews.com this week, but none of them is making it  any further onto the editorial page.

Instead, we want to celebrate with you a particularly Philadelphian sense of community.

In cash-strapped Kensington, it has manifested with a couple of online groups that crowdfunded enough money to help eight families. Spearheaded by a local business, community leaders and just ordinary people, Kensington Pride and Kensington Neighborhood Alumnae are neighborhood folk giving to neighborhood folk. “We all grew up humble,” said Barb Raimo, a pre-K teacher who has spent her entire life in various parts of Kensington. “But if your neighbors needed a cup of sugar, you gave them two cups of sugar.” (Read Max Marin’s story about the fundraising effort). 

Neighbors do for neighbors at this time of year — no matter how broadly you define “neighbor.” Police deliver warm meals to the families of fallen law enforcement officers. Local salons offer their services for free to those who can’t afford them. Ten families at Lutheran Settlement House receive $500 each from an anonymous donor. In Chester and in North Philly, low-income children receive gifts through the efforts of the Gureghian Foundation and NHS Human Services, respectively.

So, for this week, our editorial is this: a centering of love that finds expression in more than just our city’s iconic sculpture. These are the best of Philadelphia stories. These are the bright lights of the season.