Time To Dig Down Deep

 

We make a living by what we get,

but we make a life by what we give.

                                            —Winston Churchill

Last week, we devoted most of our front page to the holiday efforts of the Salvation Army and The Newtown Fund to meet this year’s burgeoning demand for assistance to struggling families. The Salvation Army, which had been fielding local requests for about $1,000 a month in assistance in recent years, saw the demand suddenly rise to $2,000 a month in 2004. The Newtown Fund, which is trying to provide for more than 80 families this holiday season, has come up short. With just over a week remaining before the December 18 distribution of holiday “baskets,” 16 families have yet to be “adopted” by Newtown groups or individuals.

The problem is not only the increase in demand; it appears Newtowners just are not giving with the same enthusiasm as they have in years past. Some of the large groups and organizations that have given these efforts a big boost in the past are staying on the sidelines. Newtown Fund President Linda Bates called the response this year the “worst ever” in her eight years with the group, noting, “Usually people are fighting over adopting the families with children. Not this year.” Meanwhile, the Salvation Army’s food pantry has run out of frozen turkeys.

Donated funds are off as well. The Newtown Fund reports that a couple of major contributors have moved out of town. The fund typically collects between $15,000 and $17,000 in cash and gift certificates for its holiday campaign. This week, the total stood at just $6,500.

Over the years, we have run numerous letters in our “Letter Hive” expressing sincere appreciation for the generosity of this community. The town’s record of giving has been impressive if you look not only at the various charitable causes that have had steady support but also at the donated time and money that has improved everything from the stadium at Newtown High School to the forest paths of Al’s Trail. So, we do not completely understand what is happening this year. Could it be after so many appeals for charitable giving that Newtown is feeling donation fatigue?

 One way we wake up our own sluggish attitudes about giving is not to think about the statistics, the tilting balance sheet, or any other “facts” of the sort we have cited here. We think about people. Of the 16 “unadopted” families facing a meager holiday this year, five of them are households with three children. One is a single mom with three boys. Another is a woman raising three grandchildren on her own. A husband and wife with overwhelming medical problems have three kids who are depending on them. And there are quite a few instances of people living on their own without the resources to make Christmas Day different from any other day.

If after thinking of these people you decide that you would like to make someone’s life a little better, call Rick Mazzariello at 270-9190 to “adopt” a family. Tax-deductible donations may be made to The Newtown Fund, Inc, PO Box 641, Newtown CT 06470-0641. And when you see a Salvation bell ringer this weekend or next, stop and dig down deep. As Mr Churchill said, the life you make will be your own.