It rained a little — and then it poured. But that didn’t stop us from celebrating at the TCDP & OFA Holiday Party on Thursday evening.

Chairman Andy Brown hosted the festivities at his newly remodeled (and now possibly muddy) house in East Austin. We know that 144 people signed in, but many more people dashed inside without signing to avoid standing outside in the wet, cold air, making the count of great Democrats closer to 200!

Senator Kirk Watson and Representatives Elliott Naishtat, Dawnna Dukes and Eddie Rodriguez, along with other elected officials, precinct chairs, candidates and activists, mingled well into the evening. Chairman Brown introduced Representative Dukes (revving up the crowd), OFA organizer Michael Litt (leading the “Fired Up! Ready to Go” chant) and newly filed candidate Dan Grant, who will challenge Congressman Michael McCaul in District 10 next year. We thank all of our hard-working elected officials and candidates who showed up.

As many of you know, our holiday party was also a charity drive to benefit Trinity Center, which serves Austin’s ever-growing downtown homeless population. Chairman Brown introduced Trinity’s Executive Director Irit Umani, who spoke with passion about the plight of the neediest among us and with gratitude for the generosity of Democratic party-goers.

Democrats are always generous and happy to help the poor, and our party/charity drive proved the point. We collected $900 in checks and cash, dozens of brand new coats, almost as many new blankets and bedrolls and too many warm sweatshirts, sweaters, hoodies, socks, hats and gloves to count. The haul filled up the inside and the trunk of my car, and those much-needed items have now been delivered to Trinity for immediate distribution.

So a big thank you to everyone for celebrating with us and for caring for others. This column is taking next week off but will return January 3. Happy holidays and happy New Year! Be safe, be warm and be fired up!