Many folks look forward to the Christmas season because of all the things they might get. Others look forward to the season and all the opportunities to give.

In the end, the folks focused more on giving usually end up happier and more blessed. The Good Book tells us that (Acts 20:35), but life and experience and all of those warm and fuzzy feelings tell us that, too.

We at Tucker Paving encourage everyone — friends, relatives, colleagues, and businesses of all kinds — to search for opportunities to give during the holidays and throughout the year. It’s not difficult at all to find a worthy cause. There are so many ways to help, so many people to help, and so many wonderful charitable endeavors to support. Those of us who are blessed — and, really, most of us are — can give our time, our talents, our money, and our other tangible resources to help improve individual lives, to help make families stronger, and, in extreme cases, to help the most vulnerable among us survive from day to day.

On the matter of giving, management wants Tucker Paving to be a company that sets a good business and community example. Through financial contributions, staff volunteerism, or perhaps just a simple mention on our online social media sites, here are some of the community and charitable organizations, activities, and causes we hope we boosted at least little bit in 2016:

• Polk County Public Schools
• Central Florida Construction Career Days
• American Heart Month (American Heart Association)
• Citrus Center Boys and Girls Clubs
• Taste of Winter Haven
• Rinker School of Construction Career Fair (University of Florida)
• Florida Flywheelers Antique Engine Club (Antique Engine & Tractor Show)
• Florida Special Olympics
• 25th Annual Chain of Lakes Challenge golf tournament
• The (Winter Haven) Banker’s Cup Award
• Southeastern Guide Dogs Walk-a-Thon
• Central Florida Leadership Forum
• All Saints’ Academy (Winter Haven)
• 2016 Haines City Economic Summit
• Our Children’s Academy (Lake Wales)
• Earth Day 2016
• Polk State College Foundation (Clays for Courts)
• Winter Haven Hospital Foundation (Fore the Love tournaments)
• Elbert Elementary School (Winter Haven)
• 2016 Hurricane Expo (Auburndale)
• American Red Cross (CPR training)
• Lake Alfred Chamber of Commerce
• Winter Haven Area Chamber of Commerce
• BCN Career Fair (University of Florida)
• University of North Florida (Computing, Engineering & Construction Employer Showcase)
• American Red Cross (following Hurricane Matthew)
• International Red Cross (following Hurricane Matthew)
• Salvation Army (following Hurricane Matthew)
• World Vision (following Hurricane Matthew)
• Project Care Outreach (Lakeland)
• Project Park Bench 2016
• “Pay It Forward: Perform a Random Act of Kindness”
• Law Offices of Elizabeth P. Davis (holiday toy roundup for Polk County foster children)

Tucker Paving team members always want to be No. 1 in everything we do and provide — our construction bids, the quality of our work, our on-time performance, our customer service and satisfaction, our promises kept, and more — but if another business tops us in giving, in philanthropy, in volunteering, or in community involvement, our feathers aren’t ruffled. Too much. We can live with that, because, in the end, people are helped and all of us are better off for it.