GiftsBy Peter Blomquist
The Seattle Times, December 18, 2008
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It is the poor and oppressed both at home and around the world who are disproportionately hard hit by the economic downturn.
Many of us will watch "It's a Wonderful Life" again this year with a little more unease than before. While the specter of a frenzied bank run will not happen in 2008, the collapse of Washington Mutual is all too real for our community.
Huge area employers such as Starbucks, DHL and Group Health have gone through layoffs this year. According to recent news reports, more than 3,000 homes were in foreclosure in Washington state last month, and an average of 100-plus bankruptcies are filed daily.
Our normally bullish regional economy has been sucked into the vortex of national and global economic despair.
Like most lifelong Seattleites, I have to go back to the early 1970s and "Will the last person leaving Seattle please turn out the lights?" to remember a time of such dim economic forecasts. It is not pretty.
It is the poor and oppressed both at home and around the world who are disproportionately hard hit by the economic downturn. These are the people who, in normal economic times, can barely scrape together enough money to feed their families, pay rent, or see a doctor when their children are sick. Now these families are finding it harder than ever to get by.
Local organizations are struggling to keep up with the growing need for food and other basic resources. Food Lifeline, which distributes food to more than 300 food banks in Western Washington, reported a 22 percent increase in demand in the first six months of this year. Statewide, the needs are growing at an even greater pace.
Halfway around the world in desperately poor places like the Central African Republic or the urban slums of Indonesia, rapidly rising food and fuel prices have forced families to skimp on basics such as medicine and clothes in order to eat or buy clean water.
But it is a wonderful life.
Remember, in his despair and financial ruin, George Bailey is reminded by his guardian angel Clarence that family and community are what matter. Buoyed by that hope, George returns to his home to find that his friends and neighbors have come together to offer their support and celebrate his magnanimous spirit.
I, too, am hopeful that we will make the right choices as neighbors and community, and reach out to those who most need it this holiday season. Most are hardworking people with families who crave a hand up instead of a handout.
Many people in our region are already stepping up to the plate.
I've heard that employees of Boeing, despite declining profits and the tumultuous recent strike, tripled their cash donations to Northwest Harvest this year.
Washington Community Alliance for Self-Help (CASH) expects to help more than 500 low-income people in the Puget Sound area build brighter economic futures with small business loans.
Many more of our neighbors are supporting global health, education and economic development through organizations like World Vision, PATH and Mercy Corps.
It's a tough time. But Clarence was right. It's time to reach out to neighbors and community, here and around the world. It is what our best ideals and the deepest traditions of our culture and nation demand.
Rather than doubt and resignation, it is a time to invest in our neighbors in need. As a certain wise angel tells us, "No man is a failure who has friends."
It is a wonderful life.
Peter Blomquist is a Seattle-based director at large for the Northwest aid organization Mercy Corps. He has worked in philanthropy and global service for more than 25 years.
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