Oh, spring, where art thou? Relief from our diverse weather with the new season approaching will be greatly looked forward to. But wait a moment; doesn’t that mean the dastardly chores have to be done? Finish raking the leaves, broken limbs to be picked up, the riding lawnmower to be serviced, clean the sheds, garage, spring clean the house, etc. (Now, just a darn minute Jacque, you’re complaining again!) Complain, oh yes, only there is no other place in the world I would rather live than in the good old Northwest, with its changing seasons that have their own special beauty. I would have been a lousy snow bird I’m sure.

Last month I was talking about the “Me” being so prevalent in our today society. The “don’t invade my space take care of your own, mentality” is changing as times grow more difficult for most. We are seeing evidence of the “We” society returning. There seems to be more thoughtfulness and giving around than there has been for some years. Don’t get me wrong, people of this country are a generous lot, giving, donating and volunteering in helping others most of the time. And we do thank these people. So many do what they can, but it takes something drastic happening right under our noses to get the message. More needs doing. Coming from a child of the Great Depression Era, the experience is not new. I have often written some memories from that time and have had many older readers, say, “Jacque I remember those days. People really were better, kinder and sharing sort.”

It seems the churches are naturally having families coming to them with financial problems, lost jobs, and who can’t pay rent or utilities, just as back in those days. The different churches ‘Pastor Discretion’ help funds are running very low to help these families, and those who do contribute, haven’t the funds to donate as much as they would like. Fundraisers just for that purpose are of a great help. Smaller church congregations have even a harder time sometimes keeping their coffers up for such needs. No, you cannot expect to care for every need.

Discussing today’s problems at lunch with a gal pal last week, I told her about the Seattle food lines mom and I stood in all day in order to receive relief food vouchers during the Depression. Dad, a few blocks away, stood in line for a day job. Baby sister was in a small buggy and my job was to entertain her. Believe me, times like that stay in your memory for a lifetime. In my adulthood plenty of staples have been squirreled away in case of a family emergency, hearing that little voice inside urging me to save something for the unexpected. If I didn’t have the funds to buy something in the past with cash, forget it. We didn’t use credit cards unless we knew we could pay it all the next month. Some good lessons were learned from those days.

I am so proud of the way our small communities are jumping in to help in donating food and funds to our food banks. Also, I’m very proud of the folks who raised more than $65 thousand for the ‘Neighbor Aid’ project reported last month in this paper. The contributor list was long and impressive. And our little Kingston Food Bank also another wonder because of the many families it managed manage to take care of on such limited funds generated from donations as it has no government or state grants. Vi Weaver truly relies on the community for help. So please don’t forget our small food bank too, that does so much good. We are going to get through these tough times with everyone doing their bit, and a little more. You can bet on it!