Charitable Tale Holds A Lesson For Spokane

Charity ranks high among human virtues.

Recent events in Spokane suggest charity is neither threatened nor endangered.

Last Sunday this paper published the story of Anni Ryan Meyer and her heroic effort to aid children living horrible lives in Romania.

She and a team of 12 volunteers from the Inland Northwest traveled 4,000 miles earlier this year to a series of broken-down orphanages around the Romanian capital of Bucharest in Eastern Europe.

They found hundreds of children trapped in vermin-infested, unheated dormitories with no glass in the windows, no hot water in the pipes, and little food on the table.

The children had no shoes.

They had not bathed in weeks.

Lice and chronic diarrhea made working in the orphanages a challenge to the senses.

But work they did. Meyer and her band repaired 22 toilets, 27 sinks, 17 showers and put glass in hundreds of windows.

They came home and told their story. Since then, the outpouring of charity has astounded Anni and her husband.

“We have about six tons of material already boxed up and ready to be shipped to Romania - everything from medical supplies to clothing and linens, to toys,” said David Meyer. “To date, we have in excess of $50,000 donated to these orphans.”

People were touched. They wanted to help. They did.

But the milk of human kindness isn’t all the needy of this world require. A plane would help. And an honest bureaucrat at the border.

The last thing Anni Meyer or any of the hundreds of charitable donors would want is to lose track of 180 boxes of donated materials and $50,000 in cash as they wend across a big nation, a big ocean and through a corrupt customs system in Romania.

So, at the moment, much of donated material sits safely in the Meyers’ garage.

“Anni has been in contact with many political delegations,” her husband said. “We have had contacts with the State Department, and private airlines. “We don’t want people to be frustrated or discouraged. Anni said she will make sure it all gets there.”

She will, no doubt.

Yet her uncommon effort points out the limits of what one person, or one team of volunteers, can do.

Anni Ryan Meyer needs help to save the 100,000 orphans in Romania alone. Those needy children, along with the hungry and deprived children who live in every corner of the world, including the corner just around from your house and mine, depend on a network of impassioned, charitable people supported by public and private organizations, bureaucracies and resources.

This need for infrastructure has all but been lost in our recently politicized, often mean-spirited discussions about foreign aid, welfare and the size of government.

Right now, Anni Ryan Myer could use the hand of a big government, and the belly of a big government plane.

Maybe she will get it.

Vice president Al Gore is visiting Spokane Monday.

Rep. George Nethercutt is up for re-election.

The old-fashioned politics of looking good at election time could kick in.

Anni Ryan Meyer accomplished a great deal. Her team, working through the Spokane Chapter of Northwest Medical Teams, offers a strong example of what private, charitable efforts can do.

Her success was based on establishing a genuine bond with those she decided to help.

Her bond to Sabina, a 5-year-old Romanian girl, was so strong that Ryan Meyer wanted to move mountains for her.

Ryan Meyer gave the girl the little red shoes she had purchased for her own daughter back in Spokane. The story and picture of Ryan Meyer with Sabina was a big part of what compelled hundreds of people to donate to her cause.

Yet how many people of means honestly ever make such a bond?

Instead, we send a coat. We write a check. That is wonderful, charitable. It is not enough.

The problems of the truly needy are that their homes are in disrepair, their health is bad, and they often have few of the basic reading, writing, personal hygiene or life skills needed to care for themselves.

Needy people need expertise, skills and lots of time and money from successful, busy people.

And if you can’t go to Romania, you could at least go next door.

Spokane’s 3rd legislative district, the one that includes the heart of downtown and most of the affluent South Hill, has the highest percent of people relying on public assistance of any legislative district in the state of Washington.

Go there.

Bond with someone.

Give of your talents.

Anni Ryan Meyer’s example can be tried at home.

, DataTimes MEMO: Chris Peck is the Editor of The Spokesman-Review. His column appears each Sunday on Perspective.