goddessing

Thinking about holiday gift-giving? I must admit I don't think about that much. As a kid I hated the commercialization of Christmas, even while loving Christmas presents. Mainly I hated how Christmas crowded out Thanksgiving. Then there was the wee problem of having a birthday 9 days before Christmas and the inevitable one present for both occasions, and the juvenile sense of injustice about that. Bah, Humbug! Not fair!

I've long since outgrown those feelings and concerns, but the lasting effect remains: I don't get jazzed over birthday giving or Christmas giving. I fight to keep those from being chores; I never know how to respond when asked what I want; in a world of choices, it seems hard to go for fun and whimsy with my dollar in view of the long list of needed things.

One of my two favorite childhood Christmas experiences happened the year we didn't give family gifts at all. Instead, we spent our money buying Christmas gifts for a single-parent family living on the very edge of poverty. I have no idea where my mother got her information, but we bought presents for a mother who was going to get nothing, her son who was only going to get a belt, and her daughter who was going to get a pair of shoes wrapped as a gift from Santa. I've rarely had so much fun shopping. It was easy to imagine a stranger's thrill at finding unexpected fun and whimsy wrapped in boxes on Christmas morning.

Last year, my sister and I bought each other items from our necessaries list. Not glamorous, not fun, but needed. And in each case, we bought the other something she needed but hadn't made herself willing to spend for.

This year, I've decided where my few holiday spending dollars are going. Food banks all over this country are experiencing extreme shortages. Demand is up. Supply is down. Emergency reserves are being tapped. Some food banks are folding because they no longer have anything to give. According to a New York Times article:

Experts attributed the shortages to an unusual combination of factors, including rising demand, a sharp drop in federal supplies of excess farm products, and tighter inventory controls that are leaving supermarkets and other retailers with less food to donate.

A sharp drop in federal supplies of excess farm products ... this from the bread basket of the world? Lovelock predicts great food shortages over the coming decades. Perhaps the U.S. foodbank crisis is a sign of things to come. I'm counting my blessings. For now, my small family is able to meet our food needs. Feeding friends, in fact, is my favorite form of gift-giving. This year, I'm adding strangers to that list. Second Harvest helps feed the 103,000 people (including nearly 39,000 children) in southwestern Wisconsin who aren't able to meet their own hunger needs. Second Harvest takes food and financial donations, and partners with 370 food pantries, meal sites/soup kitchens, shelters, senior centers, daycare programs and Kids Cafes in 16 counties in this part of the country.

My sister and brother-out-law are coming here for the holidays, a rare event. We'll feed them well. My writers' group meets here tonight. I'll feed them well. This year, I'll also be feeding the hungry, not by making food, or serving at soup kitchens, or even by buying canned and boxed goods to deliver to a food pantry. Those things are out of my range of possibility, given the mobility limitations that come with my disabilities. Making a donation online? That I can do, and will.

Labels: food shortages, holiday gifts

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