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<p>It&#8217;s heartening to see good things happening.</p><p>When you see people coming together to fix or remedy a problem, it lifts us up.</p><p>Case in point: last Sunday I attended a benefit at Bentley&#8217;s entertainment complex on Route 309 in Ashley.</p><p>Volunteers made food, decorated, wrapped baskets and prepared for what turned into a huge benefit combating one of the world&#8217;s greatest equalizers: cancer.</p><p>Nick Polifko was diagnosed with colon cancer a few weeks ago, and the benefit was in support of his fight. In fact, the tagline &#8220;noone fights alone&#8221; was heard repeatedly.</p><p>Organizer Patty Hughes and dozens of volunteers set the event up in just three weeks, but judging by the amount of baskets in the raffle, people in attendance and enthusiasm of the crowd, you wouldn&#8217;t have known it was put together in such a short time.</p><p>There was more food than 300 people could eat and enough energy to keep children &#8211; and some adults &#8211; on the dance floor all afternoon.</p><p>I made my way around the large banquet area from the front entrance to the back, and I joked that I didn&#8217;t know as many people as I would have expected.</p><p>These were not your normal networkers or event attenders. Or people just out for &#8220;Sunday Funday.&#8221;</p><p>Many were there because they heard about Nick, cared about the cause and wanted to help raise money.</p><p>That heartening feeling I mentioned is the same feeling I get when I see a Facebook friend ask for charity donations for their birthday, instead of gifts they probably won&#8217;t use.</p><p>See, when running a Facebook fundraiser you&#8217;re able to write a summary of why you&#8217;re doing it. The stories are touching.</p><p>People use Facebook every day to share and connect with loved ones and pals; tapping, clicking and swiping like never before. They&#8217;re using it for hours on end.</p><p>Creating a birthday fundraiser (even though you see them mostly for national charities) is just another way to show support for a cause you believe in &#8211; and it&#8217;s easy.</p><p>Simply find the Fundraisers screen on facebook.com or in the mobile app and follow the instructions.</p><p>I regularly share information about causes I&#8217;m involved with on social media, not because I want accolades or high-fives, but because it&#8217;s my way of raising awareness and starting conversations about topics that aren&#8217;t always addressed.</p><p>Through attending benefits or donating your time to a group in need, to soliciting donations on your birthday or just making a regular post, we all have voices and ways to help. There are plenty of options.</p><p>As for me, if you have an upcoming benefit or fundraiser, let me know. I love nothing more than to be a part of things just like that.</p><p>It all goes back to that heartening feeling.</p><style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>Mike McGinley</p><p>Guest Columnist</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Mike McGinley is the Times Leader Media Group&#8217;s major accounts executive. Reach him at mmcginley@www.timesleader.com or 570-704-3945.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Around Town: Nothing like seeing people come together to help a friend