A Holiday Special

This holiday season was different from many others. Spending time with families, gifting and receiving gifts, and enjoying winter days made December one of the best months of the year. This year, however, families were separated, the economy was suffering, and traveling was unsafe. This caused immense concern that the holiday season would not measure up to past years.

Since March, an unimaginable number of families have gone through lay-offs, small businesses find it harder to sell products, and family businesses struggle to get customers, making it more difficult for them to make the holidays as special as they hoped. Schooling is being cut short for students. Those with jobs are being worked overtime with decreased pay. Some who had a job before Covid-19, may not have one anymore. Parents working around the house have so many more responsibilities. Health care workers are working tirelessly from day to night. This pandemic has impacted everyone. Add these struggles to the already tired world that is suffering from a pandemic, a lock down, loneliness and constant fear of this invisible enemy. Now feeling the thinning of that pocketbook can be a recipe for depression, anxiety or increased panic. I came to realize this as I heard an older woman from our neighborhood bank talk about being laid off. As the only working member of her family, this strike hit hard. There were many others who were in this same situation. How could I help? My Christmas list was 8 items long. Did I need those 8 items? However, even if I gave up some of those 8 items this problem was of a much bigger magnitude, I realized. Hence, it needed a much bigger intervention.

It started with me persuading my parents to give away a portion of our holiday spending to the Food Bank. Seeing that it didn't need much persuasion encouraged me to ask the same of our family and friends. Whether it was donating food, toys or clothing for those in need, I reached out to everyone I knew. Encouraged now to do something even bigger, I contacted two businesses and persuaded them to donate money to a charity of their choosing instead of spending on gifts for their employees. Their act of kindness would make a positive impact on those struggling and set a precedent for others in the corporate world. After a few persuasive emails and phone calls, I knew I had put a smile on some faces.

It was indeed a good holiday as my success at this small step was my own attempt to engage the world I live in, in the conspiracy of love.