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The season for giving
A Times Editorial
Published November 28, 2007
Most of us have said our thanks and stuffed our refrigerators with leftovers from Thursday's holiday meal. For us, the sprint toward December's holidays already has begun. But for others, this is a time of deep desperation. Among the most desperate: the people who operate Pinellas charities that feed the hungry and provide gifts for the needy. Talk to them, and they describe a tsunami of need building on the horizon and threatening to wash over them. Lots more people are seeking help, they say, yet fewer donations are arriving than in previous years. Even loyal donors are reducing their contributions. Charities are trying to find a way to feed the masses with the equivalent of a few loaves and fishes. In a recent St. Petersburg Times story, one St. Petersburg charity had five turkeys and about $200 to buy food for the 120 families signed up for Thanksgiving food baskets. More than 2,000 children - triple the number from last year - had signed up for gifts through a Salvation Army program, but only 47 people had "adopted" one of the children for Christmas gift-giving. The story is told again and again of too much need, not enough resources. It isn't just that the organizations don't have enough food or toys to distribute. Some of the charities themselves are struggling to stay afloat, suffering from the same problems that have brought a stream of needy people to their doors: rising rents, rising fuel and utility costs, higher prices for everything from food to vehicle repairs, and stagnant or declining incomes. Local charities report that the financial crunch has percolated through layers of society once cushioned from such blows: working families, young single people, the elderly on pensions and Social Security. The rising number of young families seeking help is of special concern to agencies that help the needy, because without some assistance, the children in those families will have empty stomachs or a lack of safe shelter. These are brutal times for many people struggling to get by. Even individuals who have plenty and regularly contribute to charities are holding a little back, it seems, perhaps guarding against the day when the economy worsens or disaster strikes. It is an understandable choice, yet at no time in recent history has their help been more needed. Many organizations will be holding fundraisers or issuing pleas for donations during the next few weeks. With the size of individual donations falling, these groups know their only hope to make up the gap is to find more people who will give something. No gift is too small. If you have anything to give, you can contact your favorite charity, or look under "Charities" or "Food Banks" in the Yellow Pages, or watch this newspaper for the names of events or organizations where you can offer assistance. 'Tis the season for giving - now more than ever.
[Last modified November 28, 2007, 01:23:57]
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