Little Things Add Up

Little things add up
By ROBERT W. STANFORD
(originally published in Peace/Life Connections Dec. 2006)

The Holidays are fast approaching. Arriving with them are the all too familiar songs we have heard all our lives. Multiple chances to stock up on eggnog and watch various sections of A Christmas Story over and over again (not that I am an advocate for war toys). And over and over again, you will hear the pleas from various charities to remember those less fortunate than you are, by dropping a little change into red pots or delivering grocery bags of canned food items to a location near you. And every year, over and over again, you will hear — Donations are down again this year.

Whether financially secure or not, every family has a set of goals they struggle to achieve. Some of these goals are fixed, while others are in a constant state of flux. It is the latter that many of us find so difficult to fathom — the difficulties so many families and individuals in our communities encounter every day throughout the year. Some of us have never experienced anything coming close to them. But let us never forget that they are, in fact, very real and are very painful.

Most communities have a food stamp program which allocates a certain amount of money specifically for groceries. While for so many families, this truly is a God-send, most families will have exhausted both their groceries and their food stamp allotment by the third week of every month. This is because most communities do not provide economical assistance of an informative nature. Even a simple brochure detailing precisely how to make appropriate shopping choices such as concentrating more on ingredients and cooking rather than ready-to-eat items. This simple shopping method could ensure that so many families are not going hungry for a full week or more out of every month of the year. All together, this adds up to three months per year. After four years, it would be an entire year. An entire year of hunger.

Too few of the less fortunate individuals within our communities have ever had an opportunity to sit down with someone who could explain the most basic life-skills to them. Skills that so many of us take for granted, that we might often assume that anyone who does not practice them, probably has made an irresponsible choice not to. My hands-on experience has shown me, in no uncertain terms, that this just simply is not true. I can think of no better example to illustrate what the cliché - “Falling through the cracks” really means.

I encourage everyone to give the most they can this and every holiday season, and for those who are unable to give, I understand that it is most certainly by no fault of their own. However, I do believe that, if those of us further along the path of financial stability, would just take the time to reach out to our struggling neighbors and teach them the methods necessary to achieve their goals, provide them with the necessary tools of budgeting, home economics, a little research of programs that may help them find employment, or better employment, perhaps then they would be in a position to give in the next year or maybe, better yet, they would be able to provide these same tools to another family. It’s the gift that keeps on giving, not just for the Holidays, but for all year long and every year after.

Robert Stanford
Community Advocate