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Let’s offer a helping hand even in times of crisis

Fewer and fewer people are donating part of their money or time to help others less fortunate. In fact, according to a recent TNS Gallup, since 2001 there has been a decline in volunteerism in the United States and in the other 55 most industrialized countries of the world.

The poll says the “willingness to help” will spontaneously appear each time there is a tragedy, as it did happen recently after the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile. However, in cases of a minor tragedy, or when the volunteer needs to complete a certain number of hours or follow a schedule, then volunteers are difficult to recruit, even by large and experienced organizations.

After the 2001 terrorist attacks and the global economic crisis they created, and even more now during a recession, people modified their priorities regarding the use of their time and money. I think many people went from giving help to asking for help, while others decided not to help.

However, it is mainly during the times of crisis when volunteers are needed the most. Having said that, we should recognize it is not easy to think about helping others with time or money when you are facing unemployment of underemployment, or debts or foreclosure. It seems solidarity goes down when the crisis goes up.

An example is what happened last weekend in Greeley, Colorado. A group of 40 volunteers traveled from Texas to northern Colorado to help in the search for Kayleah Wilson, 12, who disappeared on March 28, 2010, while walking to a birthday party a few blocks from her house.

The group from Texas expected that a similar or even greater number of local volunteers would join in searching for Kayleah, but just a handful of local volunteers came.

Organizers of the search enumerated several good reasons why people may decide not to participate in a two-day operation searching for a missing girl. However, they also asked people to think about Kayleah’s mother and about the need for the community to help authorities investigating the case.

Unfortunately, Kayleah’s family did not receive the help they were looking for. But there are also good examples of volunteers helping others, such as the group that provides breakfast for hundreds of homeless people in downtown Denver.

In a corner of Denver, close to two shelters for homeless people, every other Saturday a diverse group of Latinos and non-Latinos, men, women, and children, speaking English or Spanish, meet to provide breakfast to an average of 400 people.

There is no coordinator of the group. Nobody knows who else will come or what anybody is going to bring. They do not know how much food there will be available or how many people they will serve. However, every other Saturday they miraculously provide breakfast to hundreds of needed people.

Let’s resist the temptation of closing our helping hand in times of crisis, because it is in those times when we should extend it. After all, in helping others, we help ourselves.

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