Driving down the road, the sign sat on the right, just off the curb, tilting in the wind of the oncoming tropical storm earlier this week. It bent back, swaying with the ease of a lost thought, but the simple lettering burst an indelible memory to the front of my mind. It said “Food Pantry, 10 am. – noon, Wednesdays.”
There have been events throughout my life that have been normal to me, but may not be the routine of everyone. Growing up, for instance, going to a new school for each new grade was just a way of life. Something to get used to after the first three or four times. Sure, there wasn’t any change for kindergarten, first or second grade, but then third, fourth, fifth, and sixth, then again in eighth and tenth grades, each start of the school year meant learning new buildings, meeting new friends. Starting all over again, mostly, if not completely, from scratch at a completely new school from the previous year.
Everyone did that, right? I thought so.
At the time, my normal was just that – normal to me. So going to the food pantry to get the big 5-pound blocks of cheese and bread and sometimes, if we were lucky (read: not lucky), powdered milk, was just something everyone did, as far as I knew. At no point did it occur to me that not everyone did that. It wasn’t much, but for us, it helped during the times we needed it. And it wasn’t always that way, and may not have been as prevalent as it still plays in my mind, but it did make a difference occasionally so that my family could afford other things in life. Like being able to consistently do laundry.
Okay, please take a couple minutes to watch this video before reading any further. It would mean a lot to me.
I was astounded the first time watching this video the other day. What these kids understand about life today, at that age, is staggering.
And saddening.
And maddening.
And uplifting.
Think about it. Remember back to third grade. Would you have had the character — and courage — to be interviewed about not having clean clothes being the reason why you stayed home from school? And not because you didn’t have a washer and dryer. Oh, you did. You just didn’t have the electricity paid for that you needed to run the machines that gave you the clean clothes. Or your family had to use what money it had to, instead of buying the machines, you know, buy food.
They equate the machines to acceptance. Their comprehension is sometimes indescribable.
Isn’t that what life is about at that age, fitting in? No one likes to stand out, not in a bad way. Everyone loves adulation and praise from an early age. But what about getting picked on for being, oh gross, different? That right there, being out of the norm and what it brings, whether in positivity or negativity, can make the difference in which path a kid chooses in life.
Finding such simple solutions to make a difference is also uplifting. The one teacher even said she thought, before trying the program, there wasn’t any way a washer and dryer would make a difference. Yet, after a single year at 17 schools, they had a huge uptick in attendance. It gave the kids confidence to go to school each day because they wouldn’t stand out in the yucky way.
No one likes yucky.
Is this perfect? No. Will it be the solution to really get kids who are transient, homeless or sometimes just stuck in a struggling household to stay on track, and lift more families out of poverty? Not on its own. But, that’s what being part of a community is. Doing many things together, over time, can make a difference for some. It won’t fix all the problems, especially ones created by their parents’ issues, but is that really a reason to not try?
Picking people up from time to time is not a bad thing to do as a society, because trust me, we all need a hand once in a while. I knew we needed it when I was a kid, even when I had nothing to do with the situation we were in. Whether it’s from the food pantry, a washing machine at school or so many other places that give kids a chance, we should want to help from time to time and within our means. And that’s what it should be about: helping the next generation be not yucky but instead great.
For my part, I’m going to donate to the program. But I’m going to try to raise some money for it as well. I am running the Surf-n-Santa 5-miler on Dec. 17 here in Virginia Beach. I will donate $100 to the program if I don’t break 60 minutes. If I finish between 50-60 minutes, I’ll donate $250, and if I finish under 50 minutes, I’ll donate $500.
Take a look at the program, and if you want to donate based on how I do in the race, just let me know. Leave a comment here or on the Facebook post and I’ll follow up with you. Hopefully we can help a little, even if it’s letting just one kid have a reason to go to school more often next year.
Six-7 Offsuit 