Our View: A good year to take care of ourselves

Charitable organizations had good reason to fear a decrease in donations just as requests for help increased in the final months of 2008. After all, even people who weren’t struggling were probably antsy about the deluge of bad financial news.

Instead, Del Norte County residents came through. Many of the organizations striving to spread holiday cheer experienced a surge of last-minute giving, including donors they had never heard from before.

Established philanthropists also stood tall. The Wild Rivers Community Foundation doled out $18,000 to 20 food, gift and clothing projects in the region.

And after Our Daily Bread Ministries opened a homeless shelter for a two-week run at the fairgrounds when early cold weather hit, Sutter Coast Hospital employees came up with another $2,500 to keep the shelter open through January. If you were among those awakened by the recent wind and rainstorms, perhaps you were comforted in the night knowing that people who typically sleep outside have a warm alternative for now.

In essence, the community’s generosity has created a port in the storm, brightening the holidays, preserving ongoing food and clothing give-aways and even sheltering the homeless. The charitable efforts are far too numerous to list here, but what is most important is that we maintain our newfound momentum and continue to help each other.

The storms are not over. We’re months away from a calming of the sea, and all indications are that the financial turmoil will continue long after spring arrives. The state budget crisis raises the prospect of an ominous double-whammy for Del Norte County: unpaid furloughs for more than 1,500 state employees and cuts in the many state assistance programs that low-income areas such as this are particularly dependent upon.

We’re not waving a white flag toward Sacramento and Washington, D.C. Indeed, it’s more vital than ever for local leaders to represent our cause and ensure we’re not forgotten in the budget crunches. But for the short term, at least, we should resign ourselves to receiving less rather than more assistance from the state and federal governments.

Which brings us back to the idea of maintaining the holiday momentum into 2009 and continuing to take better care of ourselves. That means giving as generously as we can to programs that assist needy people, especially those that help people toward self-sufficiency.

Increasing charitable efforts is only one way to take better care of ourselves. Another would be to resolve to buy locally whenever possible. A study released this week found that area residents spend about $76 million a year outside of the region. Some of this retail “leakage” is inevitable in a sparsely populated area. If you’re headed for a shopping mall, for instance, you’re headed out of Del Norte County. But our area would get a healthy shot in the arm if consumers would check out our local businesses first rather than assuming they have to go elsewhere to shop. We have a wider array of goods and services than many people realize.

Perhaps our newly elected City Council, Harbor Commission and School Board members can help with another facet of taking better care of ourselves. Local leaders need to assure that every tax dollar is well-spent, and that our various governmental agencies are fully cooperating for the good of the general public.

Ironically, outside assistance sometimes is awarded to communities because they are already helping themselves. Del Norte County was recently selected to receive part of a huge endowment over the next 10 years for health-related initiatives. We were chosen partly because we are a low-income area, but also because of the cooperative efforts already way here.

Good things come to those who help themselves. Think about taking better care of each other in this new year.