Giving a little means a lot

Canada is hungry and growing hungrier.

The empty, rumbling collective stomach is contracting in hunger pains and the growling is getting louder.

Many would argue we are approaching a redux that John Steinbeck wrote about in The Winter of Our Discontent. He titled the book from a line Shakespeare put into the mouth of Richard III.

“We can shoot rockets into space, but we can't cure anger or discontent,” he wrote. Steinbeck, that is, not Shakespeare.

We can add hunger to the list of things we can’t cure despite our collective wealth and technology. The rich are indeed getting richer. But if they want to make it through the eye of a needle and into heaven, the richest people might consider helping solve poverty and homelessness.

If Elon Musk, the $400-billion man, had used $250 million to reduce poverty instead of currying favour with (U.S. president-elect) Donald Trump, many poor Americans would be having a better Christmas.

The moral imperative dictates that if we can alleviate suffering, we should. A society, a civilization should be judged by the way it treats its weakest, a point Jesus made emphatically in the parable of the sheep and the goats.

“For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me,” he is quoted in Matthew 25. “Most certainly I tell you, because you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.”

A more modern, and less poetic version was mouthed by former U.S. vice-president Hubert Humphrey in 1977 at the dedication of the building in Washington D.C. that bears his name.

“The moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped.”

Unfortunately, when many politicians think about the less unfortunate, it’s how to use them for political advantage, to score points or votes.

That leaves us, we, the people, the ones who have enough that we can share with the ones who don’t, and if we can’t do it during Christmas, this season of generosity and compassion, when will we?

The local Salvation Army is trying to raise $1 million in its annual Christmas campaign, but that is not just for gifts, the money helps fund services year round.

The Central Okanagan Food Bank is also on the front line helping the less fortunate. The first Canadian food bank that started in 1981 in Edmonton — and in Kelowna three years later — and was meant to be temporary.

Since then, it has spawned a multitude of offspring, and they have been sewn into the fabric of society but the thread is being stretched to the breaking point.

Without food banks — and organizations like the Salvation Army — the dystopian future often predicted in science future movies would be here now for many Canadians of whom one in four can’t survive without help. It isn’t just the homeless or people without jobs. It’s also the working poor who face an uncertain future.

The cracks in the system are showing. The demand on the Central Okanagan Food Bank is up 38% this Christmas and demands on the Salvation Army are growing every year too.

Food Banks Canada says it recorded more than two million visits in March, nearly double the monthly visits five years ago in March 2019, and 6% above last year's record-breaking figure. According to HungerCount and the Poverty Report, things are expected to get worse next year, and much worse if Trump enacts his promised 25% tariffs. We aren’t quite there yet but without the food bank, the Salvation Army and many other wonderful charities, we might be.

Unfortunately, in contrast to the people who have been served by progress and technology, the poor are not only still with us, but their numbers are growing.

It is the worse that Don Evers, a Salvation Army bell ringer for 60 years, has ever seen it.

“I don’t think I’ve seen more of a need. Everything from homelessness to poverty to people who just can’t make ends meet,” he said.

All of us can do a little bit, which will add up to a big bit. Those little bits just might prevent things from getting worse even if it is just for now, this Christmas, this moment. If we don’t, how bad will be in three years, or 60 years? Problems don’t get better by ignoring them or pretending they don’t exist.

While not everyone can afford to donate to the Salvation Army or the food bank, they can volunteer. If they can’t give money, they can give time. Until we find a solution, we can use the elephant-eating method. But instead of one bite at a time, one dollar at a time or one hour at a time.

When you see a Red Kettle or receive a solicitation from the food bank, pretend it is the light and walk toward it. It’s not too late to help, it’s never too late. The need is always there.

For many holding the line, there is also hope.

“We’re crazy enough to believe that humanity will show up for each other,” said Jennifer Henson, co-pastor of the Central Okanagan Salvation Army. “It’s like during the fires, we saw the most devastating things happen, but, then, we also saw the best part of humanity. And it continues to happen and that’s what keeps us going.”

In his great poem, Ulysses, Tennyson wrote, “It’s not too late to seek a newer world.”

While we might lack Tennyson’s vision and facility with words, we can help create a newer, better world for the 24% of Canadians who need our help.

Merry Christmas.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.