i was in the coffee shop this morning with the kids (i love the coffee shop by our new house. they have a small play area for kids so i can actually drink coffee and read without having to entertain the kids).
anyway. this morning. the newspaper. i was skimming an article about wealth and poverty in our country and how so many people can't afford health care. i really don't remember what the article was really about, but it got me thinking anyway: why aren't there 'adopt a family' programs? i mean, you can adopt a child in a third world nation and provide money for their health care and schooling, but we don't have things like that in our own country.
this is particularly meaningful to me right now because we're building a new house. i picked out my new kitchen yesterday and was super excited all day about it. i love my new kitchen (and i don't even cook!). but since the day we put our deposit down on the house, jeff and i have struggled with what it means to buy this house. how can we buy this house when so many other people have so little? we vacillate between that and thinking that we've worked hard and we deserve to enjoy our success.
i volunteer for a non-profit and i'm proud of what i do, but it doesn't feel like enough. i want something more personal...more hands on...more tangible. the newspaper article got me thinking that i'd like to be able to adopt a family - to help them buy their medications and groceries and clothes for their kids. to help with the electrical bill or an unexpected hospital bill or car repair. jeff and i are lucky enough to be in a position to help and yet i feel like i don't know how. i know there's an answer somewhere, i just don't know what it is. i'd love to have some sort of online system that could match families. you could adopt a family and see their 'wish list' (sort of like amazon) but instead of books and CDs, it would be their day-to-day necessities. i don't know how to do it. but it's a thought.
i'm going to keep thinking about it.
Thursday, September 21, 2006
just thinking
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4 comments:
The highest form of tzedakah is to give anonymously. People in need often feel worse about themselves when receiving directly from others.
There are many wonderful organizations in this country that provide healthcare and food and necessities to the poor. I happen to know a researcher with access to a nonprofit database that might be willing to help you identify some...
Plus, I can tell you from experience - I had a "Little Sister" for years and her family was very needy. It became quite difficult to continue to help them for a variety of reasons. Happy to discuss offline!
Yeah, and I was all gonna come in and say individual giving is wonderful and important, but caring for those with needs is the reason we create social institutions like, oh, I dunno, government.
There are conservatives in my extended family that believe this oversteps the bounds of government, and they wrap it up in the usual rhetoric. But, I think the level of need you see is a sign that government has failed at a very basic reason for its existence.
I mean, if the government's job isn't helping those who have the least, I say burn the mofo down.
(Send the pitchfork-wavers to my blog.)
And I agree with Wendy. It is hard to feel elevated when you know the face that goes with the hand pulling you up. Tho', I still want the premium when I give money to NPR, every time, so it's not an absolute.
thanks for the comments, guys :) and just to clarify a minor point: i TOTALLY agree with both of you that giving (tzedakah) anonymously is the best way to give. when i said i wanted a more personal kind of giving, i didn't necessarily mean that i wanted to know the person. i just want to know that my money is going to more personal needs (going towards medical costs and groceries as opposed to giving money to an organization who will create a program to help people, blah blah blah).
i figured doing something online would allow the anonymity but still have a direct impact.
We have several ways to help families with daily necessities. Many non-profits are set up to help with gas,electric or rent assistance. They NEVER have enough help! Our Methodist Church does it and there are many others. We have a program called Hope Chest that has a clothing center & food pantry. We keep lists for families with special needs and money donated is given out each month until it runs out :)
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