Letter to the Editor: Let's Make Generosity a Year-Round Practice

Dear precious neighbor,

I absolutely love this time of year! I love the nostalgia of particular songs playing in every grocery store, mall and waiting room (yes that was me singing a little off-key in the produce aisle). I love the visual delights of pines and lights and glittery orbs. I love all of the trappings of the holiday season but I submit to you, dear neighbor, that those are mere signals for our hearts and hands to orchestrate the real magic. The intentional connections to one another and our community, I believe, are the real charm enchanting the season. It is the sweet nod of a fellow driver on the road allowing you over into a lane on the busy 91 Freeway. It is the "happy holidays" greeting as a fellow shopper holds the door a little longer to ease your entry into your favorite coffee shop. And even more, there are the brightly wrapped boxes and trees donned with snowflakes asking for gifts for those in our community that have less. I think what makes the season most magical is our focus on one another. We happily shine a light on the seniors in our community that need a little company, or the children in our community that may not have a special present under the tree. This time of year we search for those opportunities to give and share and connect with others that might not have as lavish a celebration as we have. Turkey giveaways, toy drives, blanket collections, caroling at convalescent homes, serving meals at shelters - we meet our community needs as an opportunity to bring sparkle and meaning to our own celebration. Take a moment and think of your social media feed filled with friends celebrating their generosity. The act of giving is as important a hallmark of the season as trees or presents or candles or wreaths. What a stunning display we create as we adorn our community with kindness and philanthropy.

But I know what our community without magic looks like. Desperate eyes of parents working two jobs and still worried they will be unable to feed their children, depleted spirits of hardworking loving caregivers having to make unthinkable choices between life saving medicine for their children and keeping a roof over their heads. I can't help but think in those moments that what these community members need is a little bit of holiday magic from their neighbors.

As the Executive Director of Family Promise of Riverside (an organization dedicated to supporting unhoused children and their families), I get to see moments of magic too. I am privileged to provide hope when a grandma is out of ideas of how to provide shelter for her precious grandchildren, I have been honored to hold a healing space for a dad who has lost his home because of medical bills caring for his wife's end of life care, I have screamed my head off at a choir performance for a sweet boy who found his tribe after attending five schools in two years, and cried with joy alongside a family as they sit on the floor in their new home after months of living in their car. What has made those moments even more special, is that in each of these moments I have been accompanied by a community member who has recognized the needs of their unhoused neighbor and given. Given their time, talent, or treasure because they recognize the magical reciprocity of generosity.

As I think about the coming year and all that is likely to unfold, I can't help but yearn for a community committed to magic. What if the hallmark of every season was the way in which we uplifted the most vulnerable in our community? How might our neighborhoods feel if we continued to adorn each celebration with an act of generosity?

Here is my holiday challenge to you precious neighbor. Will you invest in the most vulnerable in our community? Will you give? Will you fill your year with the light of the holiday season? Let's together build the community of our dreams. Let's together sprinkle the light, warmth, and magic of this season all year long. Dear precious neighbor, will you join me in "decking the halls" and the streets and the parks and the schools and our neighborhoods all year?

Claire Jefferson-Glipa
Executive Director, Family Promise of Riverside