Leftovers

Mr. Clark and I just finished the last of the Thanksgiving leftovers, but we are by no means done being thankful. A year ago, Mr. Clark was out of work during the holidays. In fact, his period of unemployment lasted 14 months, and things got pretty bleak there towards the end.

Thankfully, Mr. Clark is now employed, so this year our holidays are, once again, looking merry and bright. That is probably not so for all of the people in our nation, in our state and in our county who have been laid off or downsized, and are still looking for work.

The unemployment rate in Georgia right now is 10.2-percent – one of the higher in the nation. Barrow County is even worse off, with an 11.1-percent unemployment rate. According to the economic forecasters, Georgia is predicted to remain in a severe unemployment recession and continue to lose jobs through 2010.

What does this mean? It means a lot of folks are hurting out there, and the holidays tend to be a time when their pain is more intensely felt. Skim any article about any charity organization, and you will read that the need for help continues to rise, while donations continue to fall. Churches have also been hit pretty hard, as needs increase and contributions decrease.

The obvious thing to do, if you and yours remain blessed with employment, the means to pay the bills, and have a little left over at the end of the month, is to donate – donate whatever you can - to the charity or church of your choice. Local churches do a lot of good work not only this time of year, but all year long. And, the Barrow County Cooperative Benevolence Ministries (BCCBM) runs the local food bank, and helps those in need in our community in many other ways.

Another thing you could do is simply help out someone you know who is out of work and struggling right now.

Last Christmas some friends Mr. Clark and I usually exchange only cards with gave us a $100 Walmart gift card. It was tucked inside their usual Christmas card, with the amount not written on it. I was expecting maybe $25 or so, which, times being what they were, would’ve made us profoundly thankful. When the cashier told me the card was worth $100 tears welled up in my eyes.

$100 might not seem like a lot when times are good, but when times are tough, and there is no hope in sight, $100 feels like a fortune.

Not knowing how bad things would get, or how long we could hold out without Mr. Clark’s income, I clipped that Walmart gift card to the calendar - to save it for an even rainier day. And, for several months the sight of that gift card made me feel a little better, a little safer, a little more optimistic and thankful, every time I walked by. It felt like we had a little insurance policy which was ours to use, when times got really bad…

Mr. Clark found some contract work early in the year, so we never had to use the gift card for food, pet food or medicine; we had those things barely covered. We ended up using it to buy two new tires, in the spring, when the rains began to hit hard. One of our cars, the one we use all the time, had really bald tires on the front, and, based on the amount of hydro-planing already happening, we were at risk for a serious accident.

Using that gift card for tires felt like a big decision. Would the contract work last until Mr. Clark found real work? Would we end up regretting the tires, because we needed food?

My point is, people who are accustomed to toting their own load – and donating to church or charity – aren’t good at asking for help. It never occurred to Mr. Clark and me to go to the food bank or ask a church for money. We’ve always been able to take care of ourselves…There are others in greater need…We don’t need to ask for charity…

I’m all for donating to the food bank and giving generously at church. I’m also profoundly aware that there are people out there struggling in silence, who would really appreciate the kind of emotional and financial insurance a gift card can bring.

Contact the BCCBM at 770-867-3925 to donate food. Tax deductible donations can be sent to the Barrow County Food Pantry, PO Box 547, Winder, or any charity of your choice.