Many local charities have been the beneficiaries of the spirit of giving this community displays during the Christmas season: Santa’s Anonymous, Coats for Kids, the Westlock Food Bank, the Hope Resource Centre … the list goes on.
But while the generosity shown by Westlock-and-area residents should be lauded, it’s important to bear in mind that the needy in our community are often needy year round.
A Christmas dinner with the family is without a doubt an important event, and we rightly do what we can to try to ensure everyone in our community can have one. Equally important, however, is a hot lunch in February, a family barbecue in July and a filling breakfast in September.
So if we’re going to be truly charitable, we had better keep it up all year.
Of course, many will rightly argue that some of those who find themselves in a position of need have made a series of life choices that have put them in that position — drug abuse, irresponsible spending or even a deliberate choice to live a vagrant lifestyle. Fair enough.
On the other hand, there are those who through no fault of their own find themselves on the margins of society — adults struggling with mental health issues or a lack of job training, teenagers who aren’t safe in their own home due to fear of abuse and young children who didn’t choose to have irresponsible parents but must nonetheless bear the burden of insufficient meals and winter clothing.
Don’t we all share the responsibility to ensure everyone in our community has the tools to succeed in life? Well, there are several answers to that question.
Regardless how you choose to answer it, from a socialist perspective where the state or the local community ought to ensure everyone’s basic needs are met or from a more individualist perspective where people must be left to sink or swim on their own, there are other organizations in our community, province and country that address the question.
So instead of looking at band-aid solutions, we must renew our support for organizations addressing the root causes of social inequality.
The age-old wisdom holds true: give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for life.
