If you’re one of those people who feel a little “down” during the holidays, melancholy, I have a suggestion that just might help you chase your blues away: volunteer.

There is no better way to put things into perspective and lift your spirits than to give your time and talent to help others. And there is no better time to do it than the holiday season.

Over the years, I’ve found that no matter how bad my troubles seem, they usually pale by comparison to the challenges I see others facing while working on volunteer projects.

When you help prepare a meal for hundreds of homeless people, it enables you to appreciate how much you have instead of focusing on how much you don’t.

When you help distribute food and toys to needy families and see the smiles of relief on the faces of parents whose children otherwise might conclude they’d been bad because Santa didn’t bring them any gifts, well, if that doesn’t lift your spirits, nothing will.

Volunteering is easy. If you don’t already have a favorite nonprofit you can help out, there are a couple of ways to find one.

On this website, we list about 140 partner agencies—what they do, where they do it and how to get in touch with them.

Most of them can use help this time of the year. Just go to “search for nonprofits” and find one that sounds right for you.

One of our partner agencies, Community Services Planning Council, operates a service called Hands on Sacramento. It matches volunteers with opportunities.

If you can stuff groceries into a bag, letters into envelopes or leaves into a trash bag, there is probably something you can do to help make a positive difference.