A party and a toy story

We attended a cocktail party last night, where the wine flowed, the food was good and the company interesting.  It was actually a fund-raiser for the Toy Bank in the area, which donates toys to needy children during the holidays.

I've been impressed by the amount of charitable giving that occurs in this area during the holiday season so far, and we're just at the start of it.  Giving to others in need is one of the hallmarks of a sustainable society.  But it also needs balance...in order for it to work, the amount of needy people must be in a small enough minority that the majority can help ease them through their hard patch, whether they are there due to old age, unemployment, or whatever.  And it also requires people be ethical and honest about their need, in order to make sure the truly needy are served and taken care of.

Where we lived before there were more people in need than there were people to help them, as well as a high number of people who were probably not so much needy as lazy, but willing to take from the mouths of those truly in need in order to satisfy themselves.  Didn't work.  Truly needy people fell through the cracks and people who were NOT in need got served, while they stood around wearing gold jewelry, texting on smartphones and climbing into new trucks with chrome wheels and driving off with their free toys, or groceries, or whatever, probably laughing that they'd suckered the do-gooder types out of some nifty swag.  If those in need severely outnumber those who are not,  if donors too trusting, or if regular people too greedy, charitable giving doesn't fix anything.

Seeing that occur is enough to turn even the kindest soul into a Scrooge.  I don't delude myself into thinking that everyone in this area who takes a free Thanksgiving dinner or toys for their children needs them, but because the numbers are more manageable, it's easier to screen people to assess their neediness, and someone who clearly does not need it would stick out like a sore thumb, because there are less who would take advantage of the system.  Not sure why that is.  

Either way, when you truly know you're giving to someone who needs it, it makes giving much more pleasurable and makes you want to open your wallet that much more in order to help.