Christmas Fund 1996 Maybe Now We Understand Plight Of Less Fortunate Ice Storm Put Many Of Us In The Shoes Of The Poor

Most Inland Northwest residents have now walked the proverbial mile in another person’s moccasins.

We know first-hand what it’s like to be chilled to the bone, to be without electricity and hot water. To eat cold cereal for dinner by candlelight. Candlelight by necessity loses its romance.

The ice storm has had a humbling effect on those who suffered at the hand of circumstance with no control to alter its course.

It’s been a hard lesson to learn.

Yet this is how many of our poor neighbors often live - in the cold and dark. The cold that greatly inconvenienced us during the storm is what they experience when they don’t have money to pay their power bill.

Recall your discomfort of these past weeks and then, if you’re poor, compound it with the realization that Christmas is less than a month away - 26 days - and you don’t have money to buy gifts for your children, let alone groceries for a holiday meal.

These days, the No. 1 concern in the minds of low-income parents is the necessity of daily life; the No. 1 concern in children’s minds is the arrival of Santa.

What a perplexity.

Today is the official beginning of the Christmas season.

It arrives in 26 short days.

And, as for the past half-century, today is the official beginning of The Spokesman-Review Christmas Fund.

It’s the day the newspaper begins to collect money to provide toys for every child in low-income families to open Christmas morning, and to give a food voucher to their parents to help pay for a holiday meal.

As rough as these past few weeks have been, the majority of us still have so much to be thankful for. Most have power again, and those who don’t know it won’t be long before they, too, will relish a warm house and can stand as long as they like beneath the spray of a hot shower.

When grace was said all around the Inland Northwest on Thanksgiving, it’s probably safe to assume most everyone expressed gratitude for the basic things in life we took for granted before the ice storms.

But please don’t forget those who still suffer. Those who know all too well what we just learned about the deprivation of heat and lights. Those who dread Christmas rather than anticipate its arrival.

And please keep in mind the short time between now and Christmas Day: 26 days.

During those 26 days, the Christmas Fund hopes to collect $400,000. That’s a lot of money - and in any other city, it might seem an impossible goal to meet in such a short while.

But Inland Northwest residents are known for their incredible good will. Much good will has been demonstrated this past 10 days with neighbor helping neighbor. Strangers, Romanian orphans a world away, also benefited from the area’s good will. And remember the response when Fairchild families were devastated by the B-52 crash a couple of years ago? This summer’s West Plains fire and the devastating firestorm of summers past?

Whenever there’s a need, our neighbors respond.

At times, the goodness of strangers is all that stands between a victim and despair.

That’s exactly where S-R readers have stood for 50 years with the Christmas Fund - between a merry Christmas and a Christmas as bleak as Charlie Brown’s sad, bedraggled Christmas tree.

As usual, the need is more critical this year than before. The annual worsening of the poor’s plight is as predictable as the increase in the price we pay for Christmas gifts.

A goal of $400,000 has been set by the Christmas Bureau leaders from the Salvation Army, Catholic Charities and Volunteers of America, who work every day with the very people who seek Christmas help of food vouchers and toys.

These agency people know first-hand of the little assistance available these days to help low-income people pay for their fuel or their rent.

No child should endure the holiday without receiving a new toy or eating a special meal because dad is sick and out of work, or because mom struggles to raise a family alone. Agency workers know people in these straits; they serve them on a daily basis.

They also know thousands of Russian immigrants in Spokane experiencing financial difficulties as they make this their new home.

These diverse people - from Spokane natives to foreigners who don’t yet speak our language - rely on the Christmas Fund to help pay for extra ingredients to bake gingerbread cookies or buy a turkey. These families cannot eliminate even one basic bill for the “extravagance” of buying toys for Santa to deliver to their children. As much as parents want their youngsters to have a Christmas like their playmates, they can’t do it at the sacrifice of the rent or the heat or the light bill. Those things must come first. All of us now know that better than ever.

There’s no stealing from Peter to pay Paul in these homes.

Helping our neighbors in need was the reason The Spokesman-Review Christmas Fund was established during the winter of 1945-46.

As the newspaper’s way of saying “Thank you” for supporting the fund, the names and addresses of each donor are printed in the paper - unless anonymity is requested; then, only the amount is reported.

Some Christmas Fund gifts are given rather than an exchange of gifts with family or friends. Some are presented in memory of loved ones. Some because the donors remember past dreary Christmases and they want to help others, now that they’re earning a steady income.

Most, however, give because they can’t bear the thought of a child not having a gift to open on Christmas morning.

And every bit helps. Your contribution does not have to be large. In fact, in recent years, the Christmas Fund has overflowed with donations of less than $100. When CEOs of large corporations felt they could no longer support our cause, residents filled the slack.

Here’s a few basic facts that attract donors:

Every penny received goes to the Christmas Fund. Not a cent goes for salaries or rent - even the building that houses the bureau is donated.

Volunteers with the Salvation Army, Catholic Charities and Volunteers of America donate their time.

The newspaper serves as a conduit only to raise the money, which is entirely given to and dispersed by the volunteer agencies. Any money above the goal is used for the following year’s fund.

Last year, a record $421,715.50 was contributed.

There were 8,392 families requesting help. That included 13,438 children who received toys, many of whom might not have experienced the wonder of Christmas without your help. All together, 26,077 adults and children benefitted from your generosity.

So, list all the things your family has to be grateful for and dig deep - and soon - into your pockets to help our neighbors.

Instructions on how and where to donate are printed in a box accompanying this story.

As Tiny Tim said, “God bless us, everyone.” , DataTimes