It’s the season to carry on legacy of generosity

On a cold, blustery winter night in December 1967 in Battle Creek, Mich., a group of people from the Salvation Army knocked at our third-floor apartment door to deliver several boxes of nonperishable food, toys and a huge frozen turkey for my mother, brother and I.

I was a gleeful little 9-year-old. At 10 years old, my brother was serious and adultlike. Our father, whom my mother had divorced after a one-year marriage producing two children, had died several years before.

I became so excited witnessing all of the commotion that night while they handed the boxes to my mother (the contributors were smiling from ear to ear). Peeking out from behind my mom, I could barely catch my breath. It was all so electrifying that I truly thought my heart would escape the cage of my ribs.

SPONSORED CONTENT

People Powered: Preparing Longmont Businesses for Economic Success

Longmont Chamber and FNBO present People Powered on April 24, 2024, aiming to inform business owners about workforce development, housing, and transportation issues.

I received my very first Barbie doll that night.

Mr. Sass, the principal of our elementary school, had probably referred my family to the Salvation Army as one of its recipients of the food baskets that holiday season. But I don’t really know.

What I remember most about the occasion was watching my mother weep as the people handed her the boxes. I didn’t understand at the time why she was crying.

I’ve never felt bitter over our modest economic level, only impatient to improve it.

Nothing at all compares to the experience of being poor and yearning for a kindly word or charitable deed. The holiday season is my favorite time of year because of the opportunity to give to others. (Of course, many of us can and do give to charitable, nonprofit agencies throughout the year.)

According to a report by the Denver Homeless Planning Group, the number of homeless people in the city, particularly families with children, is on the rise. The study was done in part because of a charge the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development issued this past January, asking mayors across the nation to formulate a 10-year plan to eliminate homelessness in their cities.

It’s genuinely a fluke that my mother and brother and I were not homeless. We were lucky. We were in Michigan, and the economic pulse of the nation was very different than it is today. One of the primary causes of homelessness in the metro area, according to the report, is the high cost of housing.

Other factors, of course, are unemployment or low-paying service or sales jobs, domestic violence, substance abuse or mental-health issues.

Regardless of the circumstances, we need to help whenever and however we can. If it’s at all within your means to help — do it. It just feels good.

Many years ago, when my daughter was about 4 years old, while tucking her in bed one night she whispered to me, “Mommy, when you do good, you feel good. When you do bad, you feel bad.” We had just returned from delivering boxes of blankets, light bulbs, soap and food to the Boulder Homeless Shelter.

The Denver Rescue Mission, the Salvation Army, local churches and area social service agencies — all would welcome your contributions in whatever way you feel comfortable. Your donation could be in the form of a tax-deductible monetary gift, nonperishable food, clothes or simply, generously giving of your time.

As a child I was fortunate enough to benefit from the generosity of strangers on that cold December night, and it forever changed the way I view the world. While the agencies that I choose to give to do all of the footwork and organizational tasks, I still give back and get that same gleeful feeling I felt when I was the receiver so many years ago.

Bette Erickson is a Broomfield city councilwoman and a free-lance writer. She was chosen 2003 Best Politician, Broomfield County Gold. Contact her at bette erickson@hotmail.com.