This is a poignant piece on why Food Banks, and HoHoTO, help.
Thank you Dmitri for both your beautiful artwork and your touching words.
Last Friday me and Betty brought over 1,100$ worth of artwork to HoHoTo office. All of the prints (including huge custom canvases up to 52” wide) are part of our donation towards Daily Bread Food Bank.
As much as we are proud of this move (especially for a business of our size - small!) I’d like to make this post about the people it was intended for, not ArtSocket.
As a kid I loved receiving presents and looked forward to my birthdays and New Year’s Eves (that’s when we get gifts in Russia). Every new toy was a step towards happiness. Besides the feeling of delightful suspense, toys were always something I could never afford to get on my own which brought the importance of having them. As I grew older, I wanted more expensive toys, then money and now that I am fairly well off I no longer need gifts as much. Don’t get me wrong, I love presents, but I no longer believe that my year will be ruined if I didn’t find something under the tree. Most of all, I am under the impression that we all probably need less stuff. Well, not all of us…
Although myself (and probably more than few others) might have all the things we need to feel healthy, comfortable and entertained there are many who don’t. Personally (and I believe many of the readers) don’t have to look far. I still remember being a student, having two slices of bread with banana in between and $2 chicken thighs to eat for the whole weekend. That didn’t feel nice, but I bet many have even less. Most of all, feeling of helplessness and inability to make a difference in my life is what got to me at that time. But luck was on my side, I still had parents, education and I was on the way out of that hole. But so many people are feeling this way, consistently, every day. It’s that feeling of helplessness and the very true and plain fact that anyone could be in that position that gets me.
Being broke and hungry is not always a bad thing. It is a bad feeling, but at least once everyone should experience it. It gives perspective and the drive. It makes you work harder as long as you got hope. But if this goes on for too long, the hope oozes out, leaving only temporarily reliefs at best, such as alcohol and drugs. This is not healthy and not good for any one person and not good for our society.
Donations and effort to help those of us who are not well off is not just a move of compassion. It is a step for healthier lives for everyone and a sign of respect towards our own selves.
I am not going to ask to spare some change for homeless or donate to charities. What I ask for is to take few minutes your time to think about what would make those people’s lives better and take action. Even a short hello or a friendly chat could make the most miserable of us feel human again.
Dmitri Tcherbadji
![flackadelic:
(via A Field Guide To Caffeinating Yourself Into Oblivion [Infographic] | Popular Science)
Just what I need to mix things up!](http://25.media.tumblr.com/059d7d438255eef060d588619614aa50/tumblr_mhltg1LE9F1qz51wco1_500.jpg)
