“Are there no workhouses? Are there no prisons?”
That immortal mockery, as 19th century lit fans know, is from Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” when Ebenezer Scrooge rebuffs a pair of London “charity collectors” hitting up the locals for a “slight provision for the poor and destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time.”
I was reminded of the Dickensian charity workers this week when writing up a story (see A1) on the Sonoma Valley Holiday Program and had talked with program founder Constance Grizzell about her determined efforts to enlist enough donors to “adopt” 130 needy local families and 120 individuals to ensure all adults and kids in the Valley have a chance at a decent and memorable holiday.
I have no doubt Constance has met with very few retorts along the lines of Dickens’ miserly money lender in these parts - the Sonoma Valley seems to have more charitable works going at any given moment than anywhere outside Vatican City.
In fact, in the time it took me to write the above paragraph, two nonprofit emails showed up in my inbox - one saying that Friends In Sonoma Helping’s bell-ringing holiday campaign is in full jingle (see letter at right), and the other announcing that tickets went on sale this week for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Sonoma Valley’s Feb. 7 Sweetheart Gala fundraiser (check out bgcsonoma.org).
Heck, it hadn’t even been a week since I rejoined the Index-Tribune editorial team when I attended a Vintage House event in honor of the Lynch family’s legacy with the Index-Tribune that raised more than $120,000 for the senior center. (And that was the net total.)
Sonoma’s a small community - but it gives in a big way.
And as much as folks have already given throughout the year, there’s still a big need in the weeks to come. It’s getting colder, it’s getting wetter, and it’s getting close to that time when the thought that your kids’ letter to Santa might go unanswered makes life’s struggles all the more spirit defeating.
The Valley’s got no shortage of invaluable advocates for the community - from Meals on Wheels and the Sonoma Overnight Shelter to La Luz Center and Becoming Independent (to name but a small handful of the 15 program partners of the Holiday Program).
And we at the I-T urge the rest of the community to continue to open your hearts and, well, wallets, so that such organizations can keep the help coming not just during the holidays, but throughout the year.
To paraphrase another Dickens mainstay: “God bless ’em all, every one.”
- Jason Walsh
UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy: