We’re all familiar with the way time accelerates in the 55 days between Halloween and Christmas. It seems like enough time to shop, ship, wrap, bake, decorate and otherwise wrangle all those holiday traditions, but it rarely is, so something is bound to be left undone.
Don’t let that something be helping the needy.
It’s an old trope to say that the true spirit of Christmas is giving, but that doesn’t make it any less true. The pandemic has left so many more families struggling — to share with them is a present you can give yourself.
It’s Christmas Eve, so you’re probably facing a countdown clock of responsibilities. If you haven’t already made a donation of time, goods or cash to a community organization, it doesn’t have to be today. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s Good Neighbor Fund is accepting contributions through Dec. 31 and will continue to provide for families all year long.
Every year the newspaper’s staff writers tell the stories of a few parents and children caught in the crossfires of poor health, unemployment, doomed marriages, loss. Each one speaks for many other families struggling to make rent or buy groceries, much less put toys under the tree — if there even is a tree.
Paddy De Luna was only three weeks into marriage when her husband turned abusive. She’s working full time, paying off debts he piled onto her credit cards, supporting a young daughter and going through divorce, while her husband is in jail facing charges of domestic abuse. Her take: “A lot of women have it worse, right? I’m one of the lucky ones; he didn’t kill me.”
Helengrace Cabasal also left an abusive husband, in her case two years ago, and she still struggles to meet basic needs while working seven days a week. Her oldest son works part time and attends community college with the dream of becoming a social worker. They share full-time care for a 10-year-old second son with a disability.
Melanie Davis has been on hemodialysis for 11 years, since both her kidneys failed. Treatment monopolizes her time — four hours a day, three days a week. Her daughter is a high school honors student.
Roy French lost his right leg to an infection in May, just four years after the death of his wife. Unable to keep his job, he’s struggling to support three children on a disability income.
Their wish lists are modest — some clothes for the kids, kitchen supplies, a visit to a hair salon, the chance to have a dinner out. One asked for a computer printer to make it possible to apply for more aid. The Good Neighbor Fund helps meet these needs.
Donations go to the nonprofit Helping Hands Hawaii, which sponsors an Adopt a Family program for the holiday season (this year 500 needy families enrolled), and offers support all year through the Community Clearinghouse and its provisions of basic necessities.
Collections as of Sunday were more than $94,000, easily topping the goal of $75,000. Last year’s total topped $125,000.
Donors have been listed in the newspaper on Sundays, and reading through them is heartening. They are listed by name and amount given — they prove that the spirit of giving carries through in this busiest of times. Donations start at $1, but the bulk are in the hundreds and they go into the thousands. Some give as office groups, as families, in memory of a lost relative. Some give anonymously — one $500 gift is marked simply, “Happy Birthday Jesus!”
To make a contribution is easy: Go to a First Hawaiian Bank location — there are 49 throughout the state — and leave a check made out to the Good Neighbor Fund. Think of it as ending this year or starting next year with kindness to strangers as top of mind.
