A Note of Joy
How my own community has come together this week
Last week I ended my newsletter on a note of despair. This week I’ve seen action flash across my Facebook within my community. An old red telephone booth the next town over has been turned into a free pantry. Many small businesses holding food drives. Many people asking their friends to donate funds or goods to the local food bank.
I’ve seen so much action this week alone that it’s revived my faith in my community despite all the keyboard warriors who swear that everyone on SNAP doesn’t work (this is simply not true). I really have to take pause and notice how there seems to be an undercurrent of shift happening. We’re all tired of the hostility from this administration, the barrage of negativity every day from new rulings and murmurs from Trump’s mouth. I feel like we’re finally taking a step back and saying “hey, they don’t care about us” and turning to one another.
At the same time I know many who think that this small movement is worthless. That we’re all wasting our time because online many people are fighting culture wars across the aisle instead of realizing most of us are dealing with the same issues - rising costs of goods, increased prices of utilities, getting nickeled and dimed in every way possible due to Jack Welch’s playbook being alive and well yet with mass layoffs for company profits.
At the end of the day, the rise in technology has created pockets of community online but it’s removed us from our own live and in person communities. We need to somehow find a way back to actually listening to one another instead of using talking points that only further the divide.
We need to care about our local communities in some way.
These are things I plan on doing the rest of the year within my community:
Donating clothes my kids outgrew and ones that I don’t wear (either they make me feel frumpy or just have been sitting unused for months) to the local vintage clothing store that hosts a free community closet once a month.
Donate hygiene products to said closet as well
Donate hygiene products to my local county food bank (did you know that they do also disperse hygiene products, not just food).
Donate diapers to a local nonprofit called Mary’s Room - it is full of stuff for first time parents.
Donate funds to a local food pantry or donate food to a local free pantry (like the Red Phone Booth mentioned above).
Make a few scarves with yarn I have sitting around and figure out how to disperse them to those who need them.
It may seem small, but it at least is an actionable list now and makes me feel a bit less in the trenches of despair. Sometimes it takes a bit to figure out how you can help your community, but I feel that this is a good way for me that is also easy to do and feels kind of “mindless”. What are some other things that you would add to my list or what are some things that you plan on doing or are doing to help your community?