Holiday happiness

Posted by Kate A. in Editors.

I don’t know Ebony and Daniel. Most of the people who have come through this site in the past few weeks don’t know them either. But Jaki , one of my good friends and one of our awesome writers, set this goal to save their house. This is not something they did for themselves, it’s something Jaki thought to do as a friend.

Some of the negative comments on the blog entry asking for donations chided us for not collecting money for everyone or not helping other people out. Others said how dare this family ask for money wheneveryone’s having hard times. Some even accused them of being liars and cheats and using the money for extra Christmas presents.

People. What has the world done to you? Seriously. I don’t have a lot of money. I’m $60,000 in debt to the US government for school loans. I have a job, but I certainly don’t make enough to have 3-6 months’ emergency money saved up, nor does my boyfriend, who owns our flat and has a MUCH better job than I do. But I can sure as hell give up a dollar to help someone out. And for those who really can’t, we’ll all understand.

It’s frustrating for me not only to see how little people trust someone in need of a little help, but also how much people assume about one family’s situation based on stereotypes and skepticism, and how quick people are to discount the act of helping. No one told anyone they had to donate, but these people take it upon themselves to audibly hate someone just because a friend decided to try to help another friend out by taking advantage of technology? Get over yourself!

We all know everyone’s struggling and we all know people have problems that are just as bad and worse, but no one should be chided for helping a friend or stranger out. If someone decides to give a dollar or ten or 100 to someone else, that’s their own business, just as it is if someone decides to give nothing at all. Neither decision is the wrong one and neither should be ridiculed or condemned. If you don’t want to help, don’t help, but don’t be a monster and try to tell people who do help that they’re wrong.

I have been called a cynic. A label which I often embrace. And I don’t go to church or worship god in the usual sense. However, I do have faith. I have faith in people. Yes, some people are jerks, and some people are so bitter they can’t see straight, but for the most part, people are good. People like to help each other when they can, especially when we’re all having hard times. People like to make each other happy and see good things happen in the world. People really are good, and we’ve seen that here.

In one of her MySpace bulletins getting the word out about this project, Sara mentioned how, only a month ago, everyone was saying ‘Yes we can’. It was a powerful thing to see all these people regain hope for America, both in the US and around the world. And then, as they said, the hard work began. But it seems that spirit hasn’t died, because people have carried it straight through our blog pages and onto a paypal button. People have given up a dollar or two that they could have spent on a chocolate bar or a coffee or a cigarette or another few apples and gave it to a family that was struggling.

We realize that we can’t help everyone in the same situation, but at least we can help someone and see the results of the little we can give. So many people just pulled together to make this family’s holiday a little brighter. And we at Lucy are happy we could be a part of that.

So over the next few weeks, we hope you remember how easy it is to make people happy by giving them something. That could be time or cookies or even aniPod . I won’t lie and say giving is better than receiving, because they’re both pretty equally swell in my book. So I hope you do a little of both this holiday season.

For some of our favorite charities and nonprofits, check out our Holiday Generosity article. And watch this blog for an update on how Ebony and Daniel are doing.

From all the staff at Lucy, Happy Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Holidays, Winter, Life!

And Happy New Year!

We hope you enjoy the Holiday mini-issue. We’ll be back in January.

Editors |