2020 has been a significant year for many; lost jobs, economic peril, sickness, loss, and a rise of mental health diseases such as depression or anxiety. Although some of the above are new to some, many across the globe have experienced the above various situations more than once and maybe most of their life. 36% of the worlds population lives in poverty, and sadly 38.1 million people in the United States live in poverty, of those 11.9 million were children in 2018 (povertyusa.org, 2020). Women tend to live in poverty more so than men and typically in single parent households, children live with their mother. It has been projected that 150 million people in the United States will be living in extreme poverty in 2021.
WE CAN DO BETTER
The definition of HOPE is a feeling of expectation and/ or desire for a certain thing to happen. To me, HOPE instills pride, renewed purpose and ingenuity, and a path for the future. It’s more than a feeling, it is what we have been living and breathing all of 2020. Hope is the community coming together to support those that can’t support themselves. Hope is people finding ways to connect amid distance. Hope is reaching out and asking for help in your darkest hour.
The holiday season has an abundance of hope. It’s the one time of year we all seem to recognize others and we raise our hand to help in soup kitchens, donate items, volunteer our time, and share what we can with others. Every year we hear the ringing of a infamous bell as we see the notorious red kettle outside local shops and storefronts. The jingling of loose change seems to find a new home as we empty it into someone else’s kettle of hope. That kettle, although a long lasting Christmas tradition, provides toys for Christmas, heat in the dead winter, food for the hungry, rehab services, life skills, job training, veteran services, after school programs, and so much more.
I have stated it before and I will say it again – there is a real stigma about coming forward and asking for help. It can be hard – but you are hard yourself. You have overcome so much! In this past year, WE have overcome so much! There is no weakness in asking for help – you owe it to yourself and you may be surprised how it changes your life for the better.
The Salvation Army has been my Pathway of Hope. It had renewed my childhood and renewed my sense of purpose once again as a volunteer this past year in my local community. I cannot begin to explain how humbling and rewarding it was and is to work alongside other volunteers and speak with those in your community. It truly gives you an open eye approach to understanding what is really going on and how you can help. If in all honesty, it may even spur up new and creative ways you want to help in the future.
As we donate and support our local Salvation Armies, they support our communities. This holiday season please reach out and help others. Find that spare change and give it a new home; donate the can of canned cranberry; or purchase a toy for $10; it really does create a pathway of hope. Remember, “We can do better.” I can personally attest, as I was that small child with no gifts, little food, and no heat.
Want to find a local Salvation Army in your community, or want to learn more? Click https://www.salvationarmyusa.org/usn/home/#whatwedo
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https://www.povertyusa.org/facts
Her Boots 