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To the spirit of giving in the community.

Whether it’s Dave Syverson Auto Center, the Albert Lea Salvation Army, KATE Radio, Hy-Vee, local law enforcement, the United Way of Freeborn County or many others, we’ve seen several stories shared this week of businesses and organizations stepping up in the spirit of giving to bless the lives of others this holiday season.

Thank you for taking of your resources and your time and energy to lift up others who may be struggling.

Your actions do not go unnoticed, and we are sure your actions this week impacted many lives for the better.

To Minnesota Housing’s announcement that an Albert Lea multi-family housing project will state and federal funding.

We were pleased to hear the Minnesota Housing announcement Friday that a workforce housing apartment project for 60 new apartment units on the Blazing Star Landing has received $10.6 million in state housing infrastructure appropriation and $4.5 million in federal HOME Investment Partnerships Program funds, according to the agency.

The project has been in the works for the last several months but was not possible without this funding.

It is expected to include low- to moderate-income apartments in a parcel south of the new Kwik Trip already slated for the northeast corner.

We hope the development on the property will lead to a domino effect with further development on the land, which has sat empty for more than 20 years since the Farmland Foods fire.

Whether you like what is panning out for the property, it’s good to see plans moving forward for more and more there.

To the fresh snow the area received — right in time for Christmas.

If you like having a white Christmas, you’re in luck after the snow we received this week.

According to the National Weather Service, most of the area received between 2 1/2 and 4 inches of snow, with 2.6 inches reported at the Albert Lea Wastewater Treatment Plant, 3 inches reported in Wells, 3.2 inches reported in Clarks Grove and 3.9 inches reported in Minnesota Lake.

Just a little further north received a little more with reports of over 5 inches in both Waseca and Owatonna.

Just a reminder: Don’t forget to slow down and take extra precaution when out on the roads in snow or ice this winter to prevent crashes. Vehicles don’t stop as quickly on roads with ice or snow so give yourself more time to come to a stop.