Enthusiasm Matters

The news is so scary. According to Channel 9’s A Current Affair, the start of this southern hemisphere winter heralds an unprecedented increase in the number of people turning to charities for help.  Families are suddenly finding they can’t afford to pay for simple things like food and clothes, and people are losing their homes due to spiraling debt. A particular worry is that, along with the increase in families and individuals who require assistance, St. Vincent de Paul reports a significant decrease in donations. Warm clothes, bedding, non-perishables. The things that a lot of us – the lucky us – take for granted.

In the West Australian today, page 3 featured an article on a father and son now living in their car. This is no tricked-out campervan. This is a cramped Toyota coupe. The child hadn’t been to school in months. These are citizens living in our very communities, people who, through a series of incidents and unfortunate circumstances, have to sleep in a car. What is this?! Can you imagine this? How are they going to shower? How do they cook? What really breaks my heart is that there is a child. It’s one thing for an adult to struggle alone with the sense of failure, to weather the cold, to feel cast aside and unemployable. But to have this witnessed by a child – how did this happen?

Well, I’m pretty predictable. I can’t go around offering my apartment to every person I read about who is living in their car. (And, to be honest, I’m not a nice enough person to do so.) But what I can do is take the upcoming long weekend to organize a collection of warm clothes, bedding, camping equipment, portable stoves and billys, money, non-perishables… through my office, friends, family. An opportunity to free up some cupboard space. Do I really need two spare quilts? Those four spare pillows? No. Do I really need four hooded jackets? NO. What am I doing with all this stuff? Do I really need eight pairs of jeans? Who am I kidding?

To read more, or to donate, please check:

http://www.vinnies.org.au/home-wa

On that note, a wonderful thing happened at my office recently. It was pointed out to us that there has been a recent upsurge of women who are looking to re-enter the workforce after a long period of absence (eg. child rearing). As if it weren’t hard enough to re-enter the workforce in the current economic climate, these are women who might not even have the outlay cash for an interview outfit. The call went out for work clothes, handbags, shoes – anything decent and work-worthy. The office set aside a room with three giant bins for collection.

Not half a week later, the bins were overflowing and there were clothes and purses all over the floor. It was the best thing ever. It made me so, so happy. What a wonderful idea, and what an easy thing to execute, and yet, it was the first time I had ever heard of it. There were so many donations that a second run had to be made. The stock is sent to registered employment agencies, which prep the women and, if possible, follow up on their progress.

I love that someone thought of this, and was willing to organize it, and I love that we all responded the way that we did. We responded with enthusiasm as a reflection of the enthusiasm of the women who started the project.

In times like these, maybe enthusiasm is an underrated commodity. I’m pretty sure it’s not on the stock market. To a cold child, a government bond means almost nothing. But our enthusiasm – our willingness to step out, send an email, organize a collection, donate something that we wouldn’t even miss – to someone hungry - that might mean everything.

Have a wonderful day! xoxo