Giving: Do you know a "one in three"?
Winter, 1969, East Lansing, Michigan. I'm in a shoe store, shopping before heading home for the holidays, feeling flush enough to maybe buy two pairs, because my normally-tight boss at the restaurant where I work part-time handed out Christmas tips in cash. An old lady is in there too, circulating. She's a wisp of a woman in a black coat, careworn and frail.
I find a pair of bronze stacked-heel loafers that will go with my miniskirt, and are not too expensive. When I approach the cash, she is ahead of me, holding a pair of sneakers, asking the price. She has opened her purse to pay. "Thirty-two dollars", says the clerk. Her face falls, she pauses. "You couldn't see your way to give them to me for twenty, could you?" she asks. He says no, but maybe there will be a sale after Christmas. Her shoulders slump, she heads out the door.
For the rest of my life, I have regretted that I did not pay for those shoes.
According the Canadian Women's Foundation Fact Sheet on Women and Poverty, just over 15% of women over 65 live in poverty, but for single women over 65, the rate rises to 28%. (Source.)
Three other groups of females are reported to have rates over 30%:
I also have a personal project: I'm a Secret Santa to a single woman, the chronically ill and financially-strapped sister of a friend. Perhaps you are doing this too, providing behind-the-scenes support.
The woman in the shoe store must be dead by now, but I have carried her dismay within me, as I have tried to assure some level of financial security for myself. The Passage, for all its pearls and pleasures, simultaneously comments on over-consumption, and consuming less is not just about more closet space and inner calm, it liberates more to give.
Giving, whether it's time, money or goods, is the antidote, and many who read this blog have made it their focus for the holiday season. Good for you; thank you, thank you!
One in three women needs help, and that is my interest. But we give not by numbers, but by what grabs our hearts, and I'm curious. What are the causes that move you?
I find a pair of bronze stacked-heel loafers that will go with my miniskirt, and are not too expensive. When I approach the cash, she is ahead of me, holding a pair of sneakers, asking the price. She has opened her purse to pay. "Thirty-two dollars", says the clerk. Her face falls, she pauses. "You couldn't see your way to give them to me for twenty, could you?" she asks. He says no, but maybe there will be a sale after Christmas. Her shoulders slump, she heads out the door.
For the rest of my life, I have regretted that I did not pay for those shoes.
According the Canadian Women's Foundation Fact Sheet on Women and Poverty, just over 15% of women over 65 live in poverty, but for single women over 65, the rate rises to 28%. (Source.)
Three other groups of females are reported to have rates over 30%:
- Single mothers and their children, 30.4%
- Aboriginal and First Nations females, 32% and 34% respectively, and
- Immigrant women, 31.4%.
I also have a personal project: I'm a Secret Santa to a single woman, the chronically ill and financially-strapped sister of a friend. Perhaps you are doing this too, providing behind-the-scenes support.
The woman in the shoe store must be dead by now, but I have carried her dismay within me, as I have tried to assure some level of financial security for myself. The Passage, for all its pearls and pleasures, simultaneously comments on over-consumption, and consuming less is not just about more closet space and inner calm, it liberates more to give.
Giving, whether it's time, money or goods, is the antidote, and many who read this blog have made it their focus for the holiday season. Good for you; thank you, thank you!
One in three women needs help, and that is my interest. But we give not by numbers, but by what grabs our hearts, and I'm curious. What are the causes that move you?
Comments
I'm working with the local elementary school to stock extra clothes and food for kids who need it.
Our neighbourhood charity has indeed done a lot to help people (including single elderly people as well as families) and Sister Madeleine Gagnon was a miracle worker with the kind of toughness effective angels have. Le Chaînon, which helps homeless and in-crisis women is also a worthy cause. A growing concern here is homeless Indigenous people from the far north of Québec, and agencies respectful of their cultures.
No surprise that I also help cat rescues! They take old towels for cages and other things as well as $$.
One such urge has led me, an Australian Rotarian woman, to become involved in a Rotary initiative HIP Honouring Indigenous Peoples which is a collaboration between Rotary and the Indigenous Peoples of Canada. HIP working with the Indigenous People, do many good and positive things together. It is a great group to be allied with and I highly recommend it to all Canadians, not just Rotarians or Indigenous people.
I have been so impressed that I have been urge by these God impulses, to bring HIP to Australia. Each time I forget that I want to do this or start to think that it is too hard, I get another nudge.
Laura J: I have given to individuals on the street, but will confess that I prefer to give to agencies that provide food, shelter and health care and necessities. I too have become more 'home-based" in giving but also donate to Help Aged, which provided necessities for the elderly in developing countries.
lagatta: Oh that is a great fit for you! A friend who is single used to spend every Christmas Eve, day and Boxing Day working at the cat shelter so that staff could be with their families. She has since moved.
Melissa: I am grateful for women like you who take a good idea and initiate it in their own locale. I did not know HIP, thank you for the information.