Seasonal generosity comes in many forms and always makes me well up. There are feel good stories like Newton Police who didn’t have to work this Christmas as neighboring police forces took their patrols and countless others...
But there are a lot more stories this season like the gentleman who hands out $100 dollar
bills / shelter stories like a musician who entertains for free, a
volunteer who collects day old bread and drops it off , a woman who cooks
dinner twice a month / the man who writes a $1.2
million dollar check after hearing of an idea of buying an old school and
turning into apartments for the homeless.
Every year our Jazzercise class has a tree covered with gift request tags from a 'needy' family. This year’s family tags were very different than previous ones and I think it is a reflection of what is
happening in our country. This year the tags asked for diapers, shampoo, socks... not Nike tennis shoes/ I pods. I am sure you get the picture... Necessities that we have and take for granted.
You see the majority of the people who received those $100 bills after showering the giver with gigantic bear hugs and tears when asked how they would use the money responded to give their children a Christmas with gifts, to pay off hospital bills/ to be able to buy 'food.'
So my tears are not
only due to this Christmas seasonal generosity and the appreciation of its recipients but
the sincere wish that there wasn’t such a great need for so many.
May We and our Families count our blessings and may we all work to eradicate this growing poverty in our country... Now that would be a terrific present.
Happy Holidays from the End of the Rainbow Valley.
The need is endless and doesn't seem to be letting up at all. I fear the impact of the fiscal cliff since I don't think the uber wealthy really care if taxes go up or not, it doesn't hurt them so much. These are interesting times we live in.
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