Bells and Stars

Disclaimer:  Yes, I am aware that Christmas is a time to reflect on Christ’s birth and yes, I know it is not MY birthday, but….

I want to talk about indulgence.  And not the Catholic kind (google it).  Indulgence as in things that we don’t (or shouldn’t) typically have, but when we do it is AWESOME.  Unfortunately, I indulge too often, but there are still a few things I hold back on except at holiday time.  One of those indulgences are these Archway cookies called Bells and Stars.  They are simple little sugar cookies that when dipped in milk become astoundingly delicious.  Another holiday indulgence I enjoy is my famous butternut squash casserole.  It contains white sugar, brown sugar, and sweetened condensed milk.  It also contains some squash.  Along with indulging myself, I also love to spoil my family, when possible.  I can’t go into too much detail here, but let’s just say, my kids should be pretty happy this year….(no,Taylor, you are not getting a puppy). 

As I stumble through stores this season it appears to me that many others like to indulge themselves and their family as well.  Is there any doubt that we all love a bit of indulgence every now and then?   

 In my experience, low-income people are just like you and me.  They, more than us, could use a bit of indulgence this time of year.  All year long Bidwell’s staff works to try to meet the most basic of needs for families:  food, clothing, safe child care.   But this time of year is one of the few times that we get to help bring some indulgence into their lives.  Christmas Sharing has been a part of Bidwell’s history for over 50 years.  Each year hundreds of families are sponsored by individuals, churches, civic organizations, and businesses with the goal of bringing to families things that they could never get on their own and things that are not available at a food pantry.  The concept is this:  we gather the names and information about families at or below 150% of poverty (that is about $33,000 a year for a family of four).  We take this information and give it to someone that would like to “sponsor” that family’s Christmas.  The sponsor, at minimum, is supposed to obtain 2 toys or gifts for children 16 and younger as well as provide food for a Christmas dinner.  Most sponsors do much more and do indeed give indulgences.

In theory this should all work out.  But, we are dealing with human beings.  So, nothing is perfect.  The majority of our sponsorships go through without a hitch, but sometimes there are complications—a wrong or disconnected phone number, language barriers, sometimes sponsors forget –all things that should be expected  Yet, there are times I have been surprised by some issues with sponsors.  Most recently we got a message because a family did not receive any toys from their sponsor for their young children.  We have had other sponsorships come back because a family asked for something extravagant (an X-Box which is $129.00, but for a family with three kids, that could be cheaper than buying separate items for each).  We even had a specific request this year that a donation not go to anyone that was, in the giver’s words, “illegal”   Now, I can understand some people’s belief that we should be focused on basic needs and not on indulgences.  I respect that opinion.  However, why sponsor a family in that case?  Are people bothered by low-income people experiencing abundance though indulgences?  Are we concerned that certain people don’t deserve certain things?  I am very interested in your thoughts on this.  Please comment and we will have a discussion. 

Peace and indulgences to you this holiday season,

Anne