You Can Help End Poverty

Today is Blog Action Day, where the global blogging community is participating in a larger discussion about poverty.

By doing so on the same day, the blogging community effectively changes the conversation on the web and focuses audiences around the globe on that issue.

My Story

My earliest memories were growing up in very low-income housing, which comes with a stigma unlike many others. The area had some rough neighbors, but by living there we also met people we know to this day and still visit with.

When my father graduated from high school he enlisted in the United States Navy, married my mother and then spent the majority of the next four years on board the USS Samuel Gompers. After being honorably discharged, he worked at Montgomery Wards delivering appliances. That is, until he was fired for unknown reasons. After he was fired, my parents made the decision to have my father concentrate on getting his degree from the local college.

During this time, for a few months, my parents relied upon food stamps to provide food for us. My parents did what they had to do to see that my sister and I had warm meals and once my mom got hired to work on the production line for Hewlett-Packard, they were able to have just enough reliable income so they no longer needed food stamps. On the upside, my father was home with me while I was out of preschool and I definitely think the time spent one-on-one helped mold me into the man I am today.

After my family moved out of that area, and into our own rented house where the garage flooded every winter. We still scrimped to get by and I recall many meals where my parents used their creative genious to make something different each night out of the same few staples we had in the pantry.

In the mornings, my sister and I always knew when money was extra tight because we would notice something was different with the milk we had with our cereal. When we were older we found out that when the milk was low, and we didn’t have the money to buy more, my parents would mix condensed/evaporated milk in with the last bit of real milk.

Hand-me-down clothes from three older boy cousins kept me in brand name clothes so I wasn’t picked on. Birthdays and holidays were extra tough but my parents always managed to dazzle us!

But you know what? I’m not ashamed or embarrassed about not having what other kids had growing up. I use my family’s story as a means to an end – to let people know that all who rely on public assistance, welfare and low income services are not degenerates, lazy or ambitionless. Most are hard-working people who caught a few bad hands and are trying to regain their footing.

What Did This Teach Me?

While we were generally able to afford the bare essentials, my sister and I grew up appreciating what we had. We didn’t go out of our way to break our toys or wreck our belongings and we learned the value of spending time with family and friends.

When we each grew up and began having families of our own, we took the lessons we learned, directly and indirectly, and applied them to our own homes. When Keli and I have some financial roadblocks, I find some comfort that, hell, if my parents could rebound from the circumstances they faced, then we have nothing to complain about.

If that doesn’t work, remembering what my grandmother went through, growing up during the 1930s usually puts an end to any pity party I might be having.

What Can You Do?

Here are some ways you can help those poorer and less fortunate than yourself, which won’t cost you anything you weren’t already going to spend.

• Donate old clothing and household goods to your local Goodwill, Salvation Army, rescue mission, etc.

  We constantly have a collection area in the house or garage where we gather items we’re going to donate. The kids are trained with this process by now so they, on their own, will add toys or clothes they no longer want or need to the pile. When we have a trunkfull, we donate it to a Goodwill store in our neighborhood.

• Volunteer for a couple of hours at your local food bank.

  Keli and I have done this in the past with the kids. We’ve even put Mason in one of those kid backpacks which we took turns wearing and Bailey helped grab items of food off the pallets.

• Have a sandwich making gathering with friends. Afterwards, you can take those sandwiches and give them to homeless/needy folks around town.

  A few times a year, usually after a holiday with lots of left overs, my In-laws will prepare a lot of individual meals, like sandwiches, and then drive to San Francisco in the poorer areas and pull over to give them away to people who look like they could use a good meal.

• Don’t judge people.

  When you see someone down on their luck, if you’re not willing to give them your spare change, that’s fine. Just don’t judge them. Remember that everybody has a story that brought them to where they are, and it’s likely not the story you presume you know.

Viewing poverty as a death sentence will only exacerbate matters. If we all do our part to help those less fortunate than ourselves, poverty will be only temporary.

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