During Problem Times How About Looking To Ourselves?
By Thomas D. Segel
February 21, 2009
Like most writers with a lot of time on their hands, I was thinking about the next commentary I was going to write. The article was going to be about the nose-dive our economy was taking and how the American people were reacting to everything falling apart around them. It was also just a few days before Christmas, 2008.
The volunteer at the opposite Wal-Mart entrance walked over to talk with me. We were both ringing bells for the Salvation Army Christmas Bucket Drive. His bucket was overflowing with donations and mine was about to reach the same level. We decided to call the Army office and have them pick up our collections.
Half way between our two buckets, the U.S. Marines were making a pitch on behalf of their Toys for Tots campaign. If they failed to receive enough donations, the 35,000 children in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas they were seeking to help would find no gifts under their Christmas trees.
The people in this southmost corner of Texas know about hard times and poverty. It is one of the most under employed, under educated and economically depressed regions of the country. Where most of the country bemoans unemployment approaching 8%, such a figure would signify fairly good times in many counties of South Texas. It is not unusual to see unemployment figures at 12% to 14% along the Texas-Mexico border.
But, even though much of America would wring its hands in despair and cry out to Nanny Washington to solve the problem, Texans seem to be of hardier stock. At Christmas last year, the Salvation Army raised enough money to provide for everyone who came to them for assistance. The Marines met their target to provide a bright Christmas morning for those thousands of children.... and there wasn't a government stimulus package in sight.
At Loaves and Fishes, non-profit multi-purpose center to assist those in need, more than 9,000 meals were fed in January 2009. This was up more than 2,000 meals from January 2008.
January also saw the nonprofit organization providing 562 bed nights of shelter for the homeless and 237 families with at least a week of food supplies. All of this was done with private money and no federal bailout.
Isn't it strange...a small city of less than 75,000 people can manage to take care of its own and not incur a massive debt doing the job, while our national leaders can only seem to throw all this country's financial resources and future wealth into a bottomless pit of inefficiency?
Last night the three Rotary Clubs of Harlingen and the Rotary club from neighboring San Benito held their 15th annual Shrimp Fest. More than 2,000 people turned out to support the event, knowing that every penny raised was going to local charity.
Every night Monday through Friday Jay Leno tightens up his necktie in an action reminiscent of the late Rodney Dangerfield and fires off a string of jokes about our bad economy. But, the people of this corner of the Lone Star State don't think bad economics are something to be used as comedic punch lines. At the Rotary Shrimp Fest there were 600 more people participating than in 2008...and all of them knew their contributions would be used to help fellow residents.
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