Let’s make a reluctant Barry Saunders wear a Santa suit! If readers donate $25,000 in money and goods by Dec. 17 to the charities listed in our Guide to Giving, an N&O photographer will be available to take pictures of those who come to see “Santa Saunders” at The N&O on Dec. 21. We’ll post the pictures on our site.

Find the guide at http://bit.ly/givingguide.

At last count, readers had given just under $5,000. We’d like to thank Marvin Woll of Raleigh for the use of his Santa suit.

If you donate, send an email to bwheeler@newsobserver.com with the amount, your name or company’s name, and a phone number. Please put HOLIDAY CHALLENGE in the subject line.

You can remain anonymous, but we need to track the donations.

Thank you in advance for your generosity.