Truths Emerge Along Sidewalk

Kathy is smart and hard-working. The single mother of two is on public assistance, but she works part-time and attends college. This week she received a food voucher and toys for her kids from the Christmas Bureau.

It was easy to feel good about helping Kathy. She embodies the qualities those who are not poor like to see in those who are. But if you work as a volunteer at the Christmas Bureau (something we’d recommend for those in search of that elusive Christmas spirit), you’ll discover that not all the poor are like Kathy. Some are unwashed, ungrateful, uninspired. And some will never make it into mainstream society, regardless of the work requirements welfare reform may include.

So this is the challenge. To accept, as Christ said, that “the poor you will always have with you.” To accept that we are all responsible for one another. To not ignore the poor, hoping they will disappear. They won’t.

The gap between the poor and the non-poor is widening. Stand by the Spokane Public Library downtown and watch the dynamic unfold in front of the Christmas Bureau, located in the old Pay Less store at Riverpark Square. Business people and shoppers turn the corner and suddenly notice the long line of people waiting outside.

Most cross the street. To avoid … what? Perhaps feelings of guilt, feelings of anger, feelings of fear. There is not much to fear here. Listen to Mike Ryan, administrator of Catholic Charities who has helped organize nine Christmas Bureaus. He tells volunteers: “The gifts we give here are material. They will vanish. But the spiritual gifts will remain. Gifts of kindness, courtesy and nonjudgment.”

And listen to Ken Trent, Volunteers of America executive director and Christmas Bureau coordinator. This is his 22nd year of involvement in the Christmas Fund. He says: “We are a community and these are our people. Their quality of life affects our quality of life. Every bit you do helps.”

Another truth emerges as you volunteer at the bureau. There is as much diversity among the poor as there is among the middleclass and the wealthy. Some, like Kathy, have the will and the brainpower to rise above poverty. Others will remain poor forever. So the poverty problem cannot be solved by legislation alone. It requires everyone’s participation - individuals, families, churches, institutions, communities.

The first step, however, is easy. Just cross the street.

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Rebecca Nappi/For the editorial board