Independent Student Newspaper Since 1969

The Badger Herald

Independent Student Newspaper Since 1969

The Badger Herald

Independent Student Newspaper Since 1969

The Badger Herald

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Forget the Xbox, remember those less fortunate

The holiday season was filled with joy and cheer; we didn’t have to worry about the economy, global climate, racism or poverty. Now we know better; yet, Americans are still Christmas junkies. The tables have turned and instead of just being kids in a candy shop, we are kids in a candy shop equipped with credit cards.

shoppers wait in interminable lines to rummage through stores to find the best deals on the best toys and gadgets. Some are there to window shop, but during this season, most are there to spend their hard-earned dollars to bring smiles to the faces of their family and friends. Of course, more and more people prefer to avoid the crowds and click away on their computers, still buying gifts, though. Thanksgiving weekend was only the beginning of a season embellished with frivolity.

The weekend wedged between Black Friday and Cyber Monday is the biggest shopping weekend of the year. Literally millions of people swipe their credit cards or type in their expiration dates online.

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As estimated by the National Retail Federation, shoppers spent $41.2 billion Thanksgiving weekend. Online shopping in these days accounted for another $2 billion. This is just a small portion — four days — of holiday shopping. These numbers don’t account for 24 days in December or the 11 other months of the year. Total holiday spending is a truly unimaginable number, climbing through the hundreds of billions.

Increases aren’t exponential, but nevertheless, holiday spending has increased over the past few years. Although average families tend to be spending less money this year, more people are shopping, causing the increase. Perhaps we are all just trying to ease the pain of these tough economic times with some jolly ‘ol gift giving.

We think nothing of it.

America’s Research Group estimates that donations of $20 or greater to charities will rise to 42.6 percent of consumers this year. Less than half of people who will spend money on Christmas this year will donate to charity. The bottom line is that if you have enough money to spend a few hundred dollars on Christmas, you have enough money to donate $20 — to any charity.

As we prepare for our holiday meals, we should all consider the fact that almost 15 percent of U.S. households are considered “food insecure” by the USDA. These are not just the homeless or the relatively poor, but many of these people and families include the working poor or recently unemployed. To put things in perspective, the Wisconsin State Journal reports that one in 10 households in our state have struggled with food insecurity since 2006. Think about nine friends, and then think about the fact that one of those friends — if not you — has not had the proper amount of food or nutrition. Food. Not video games or North Face backpacks or fancy cheeses. Just food — any food.

I repeat myself only because it is a difficult concept to grasp when you’ve never personally struggled with it. While people celebrating Christmas think about what fabulous gift will be tucked under the tree, there will still be 15 percent of Americans wondering if they will be able to eat after the New Year.

According to Jim Carrier, a board member of the River Food Pantry of Madison, food pantries are overstocked during the holidays because of well-advertised food drives, such as NBC 15’s Share Your Holidays. This is good. This shows that giving during the holidays truly can be charitable.

However, the rest of the year is not so lucky. While donating during the holidays is certainly important, perhaps the billions of people spending billions of dollars on Christmas might consider saving a few dollars from their holiday budgets so that their neighbors, friends and fellow Americans can eat half as well as they will.

By no means should donating to charity be an obligation anyone has to face, but rather, a way to celebrate our humanity. If we want to live in a world where everyone is equal, we should at least help each other put food on the table. We should remember that the holidays are a time to spend with family and that a little sacrifice so that all people can feel the same amount of joy every day is not such a huge sacrifice after all.

Jaimie Chapman ([email protected]) is a junior intending to major in journalism.

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