But there's no reason we can't also be thankful for the everyday people doing the little things too.

There is an old adage about doing "just a little every day, even when you don't feel like it", so we are shouting out to everyone who does the little things.

The parents waking up in the dark and cold to get the kids to swim meets before school; the people who bust out the Betty Crocker and bake a tray of cupcakes for the local charity bake sale; the volunteers who clean up the footy ground after a weekend game; and everyone that gives up even a little of their time to empower others.

Laundering the team uniform after a muddy weekend or running the barbecue at community gatherings can often feel like thankless tasks and, admittedly it can be hard to see the forest from the trees when scrubbing a jumper or flipping some rissoles.

But an hour or two of sacrifice can mean so much more to others than we ever realise.

Community groups and committees are regularly made up of the same people who have done the work for 10, 15 or even 20 years and that little bit of help means the world to them.

Throwing your hat in the ring to help out once a week, month or even once a year can also mean the difference of events getting off the ground or not.

Even the biggest festivals and community gatherings generally had a grass roots start, but how many others have we seen fall by the wayside during the pandemic or because of a lack of volunteers?

There are so many ways in which people give back to the community they may not even realise they're helping, but someone always notices.

We need our own time and space and you can't give your all, all the time, but nor do you have to.

A couple of cupcakes or some weekend sausage sangers might not seem like a lot to us individually, but it is always the little things that come together and form the basis for the big things getting done.

So thank you, for doing the little things. Because the little things always matter.

- Jacob McMaster, ACM Deputy Editor South Coast/Southern Highlands