Once upon a time, not so many years ago, individuals inhabited Sweet Home who were known as volunteers.
They found pleasure and fulfillment in donating time and energy to making their town a better place, cheerfully setting aside their personal interests to help others, to work for the common good, to solve problems.
Then things started to change.
People began acquiring devices that greatly expanded their options for personal entertainment, ranging from giant flat screens on their walls that could stream any content they wanted to devices that allowed them nearly unfettered access to chase any whim they might have.
Suddenly, it seemed more fulfilling to play realistic games and argue about stuff, to find was to assert their ideas over others, to swim in what increasingly became a public cesspool of bad blood, slander, and sedition lapping within those screens.
Then came the Great Sickness and, immediately after, the Great Shutdown. People were now forced, or nearly so, to stay home – told that to appear in public put themselves and others at risk. Children were barred from school; they had to stare into screens at their kitchen tables. People stayed away from the office; they found a spot in their garage, their bedroom, their basement to try to be productive.
Meanwhile, there were less and less volunteers. The ones who remained were aging, their hair whiter, their wrinkles deeper than they had been before the onset of the screen addictions and the Great Sickness.
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OK, enough of the fable.
Sweet Home has a problem. If you’ve read the report on page 1, you know by now that not only are food supplies at risk for local needy residents, thanks to the reduction and delay of SNAP benefits.
The government shutdown is already starting to hit some of our residents hard, and we have local skilled, intelligent, productive people who are federal employees who are not being paid as this is being written. (Note: There was talk of a House vote on Wednesday as we went to press, so we were still awaiting an outcome on that.)
The pros and cons of the SNAP and other aid programs managed by our government are not the point right now.
The issue is people around us. Likely, very few of us would be comfortable if our income source were rather abruptly halted for an unknown period of time. All of us know what it is to pay bills, purchase needed food and other supplies, not to mention the insecurity of not knowing when one would be able to get back to work.
And all of this, of course, is happening as the holiday season rapidly approaches.
That’s why we residents of Sweet Home need to take this seriously. The confab called by the mayor and other leaders last week was helpful in identifying just where some of the local organizations stand in their efforts to help the needy. In some cases, it’s not a firm foundation – at all.
Twenty years ago, Sweet Home was known for volunteerism. The Fire Department was generally well-staffed at emergencies, with a healthy corps of volunteers. In those days The New Era ran a weekly highlight featuring a local volunteer who was active in the community. That was 52 a year and the feature ran for ______ years, until ______________. Yes, we have volunteers today, but many are aging and the number of organizations stating that they were getting by with a minimum of (often aged) volunteer staff was, frankly, frightening.
Meals on Wheels has cut one meal delivery day because it can’t get drivers. Manna Meals may have to shut down entirely because of a lack of help. Sweet Home Emergency Ministries isn’t far behind. Typically, when I visit Sugar City Gleaners’ thrift store, I notice that I tend to be the youngest person in the room. The same is true at East Linn Museum.
People old enough to be grandparents or great-grandparents are getting up in the morning and heading out to volunteer, because they are the only ones apparently willing to do it.
We’ve been hearing bits and pieces of this for years. Volunteerism used to be big in Sweet Home. What’s changed?
Are people more self-centered now than they were a generation ago? Has home entertainment become so consuming that we can’t think past our screens? Are we still experiencing after-effects of COVID? Has societal turmoil and distrust reached the point that people no longer care to or are actually afraid to open their doors, walk outside and get engaged in their community?
Am I missing something here, or are one or all of these legitimate explanations for what’s happened?
I think the culture of Sweet Home continues to be such that it’s possible to see a resurgence of concern for others that we once knew. But maybe it’s time to get off our derrieres and get out there and get busy.