We need new model for charitable giving

The weather is turning colder, the holidays are just around the corner and my thoughts this morning involve charitable giving to those less fortunate.

All national surveys tell us that charitable giving increases substantially as the holiday season approaches.

By any definition, Americans are the most charitable individuals in modern society. I suspect that has a great deal to do with our Christian values and the recognition that there are those among us who need a helping hand.

On a local level, Sikeston residents have a long-standing reputation in the realm of charity. The examples are all around us.

As some of you may remember, this newspaper - actually its predecessor the Democrat

Advertiser - for nearly 30 years conducted an annual holiday gift basket campaign that raised a boodle of money during that time.

We ended that campaign a few years back for a couple of reasons. But high on that list of reasons was the glaring fact that most of those funds were going to the same families year after year.

We tried in earnest to limit those repeaters to the campaign. But in the end, the applications for assistance were hauntingly familiar each and every year.

Which brings me to my point.

Though I clearly don't have the answer, there must be a better way to help those in need other than simply doling out dollars for some short-term benefits while ignoring the larger question of how to lift someone out of poverty.

On the federal level, we should have learned by now that giving dollars to those in need alone does little to address the long range problem.

Federal outlays on "welfare" - it takes many forms - have done absolutely nothing to decrease the numbers of those living in poverty.

I am in no way advocating for a halt in charitable giving. There will always be those among us who need assistance for their basic needs and without reservation, as a people we must continue to recognize this need and help when and where possible.

But somehow, somewhere we need a new model on charity.

I'm uncertain if we collectively could use that act of charity as a teaching moment. How can we instill in anyone that a handout is at best a temporary fix for a much larger problem?

What we often see in our area and elsewhere is generational poverty. We witness a cycle that seems unbreakable.

And yet until we break this generational chain, we'll throw the same failed solution at an issue that needs education as much as temporary financial relief.

What frustrates more than anything are the bad and often repeated choices that continue to be made with those charitable dollars.

One quick example. For years, a small group of us have reached into our pockets each fall to help a fellow with his winter heating needs. This is at least a 15 year exercise that is as routine as clockwork.

And each year we question why this fellow is unable in even a minor way to prepare for the inevitable cold that winter brings.

But each year we solve a small temporary problem without ever addressing the larger issue of responsibility.

Like you, I'll still reach into my pocket in the weeks ahead to help someone I probably don't know. And I assume, I'll feel somehow better to have helped someone.

But we need to be less smug and less assured that our help is the solution.

As I said, I don't know the answer but I do know that how we currently address those in need is at best a false solution.