It’s an opportunity to redeem ourselves from the viciousness, which has plagued our nation for the last couple of years, and a chance to start 2018 off on a better foot.
By Patrick Jude
The world is in a bleak state, and America is without exception. We’ve become derisive, and obsessed with division. The only thing looming more so than impending wars is the sense of us or them, which has blanketed our country with one swift, coast-to-coast, sweep. While each of us knows we should seek to understand our neighbors concerns by putting ourselves in their shoes, we fail largely in exemplifying it; and compromise has never seemed more absent in America than it is today.
Imagine if liberals got their free college, and didn’t get so offended when somebody accidently uses the wrong pronoun. Imagine if conservatives weren’t worried about having their guns being taken away, and in return knocked off all the extreme policies like wanting to build some bullshit race wall, and the façade that children from low-income communities have the same chance of achieving their American dreams. What a perfect world it would be.
That all being said, and in lieu of the aforementioned spiteful contempt we’ve been collectively exuding, it’s the holiday season. It’s the time to do good. It’s an opportunity to redeem ourselves from the viciousness, which has plagued our nation for the last couple of years, and a chance to start 2018 off on a better foot. There are innumerable amounts of ways to do good in a world where so many areas need help. If you’re looking for something local, we’ve got a couple suggestions.
New Hope For Kids –
Based out of Maitland, New Hope For Kids has partnered up with just about every local Panera Bread for a project that will make sure many underprivileged kids will have a bungle of presents to wake up to on Christmas morning. The process is simple. Visit a local Panera, no purchase necessary, and simply take a gift tag from their wish tree.
Purchase the gift and bring it back to Panera or the New Hope building. They’ll wrap the gift, which makes the process even simpler. To make it even easier, individual gifts can also be purchased on the New Hope website. www.newhopeforkids.org
Final Day – December 17th
A Gift For Teaching
The charitable route is also a tremendously impactful way to help out your community during this holiday season, as well as after. The folks at A Gift For Teaching have been doing wonders for schools in Orlando for years. AGFT gives teachers additional resources for their classrooms without having to dip into their own pockets, as so many do in a state where educators are paid an egregious $10,000 less than the national average.
AGFT also puts school supplies into the hands of children; paper, pens, books, the list goes on. 13,000, that’s the number of homeless students in OCPS alone. 210,000 is the number living below the poverty line. There is no greater contribution to our society than the education of those who will one day forge it.
Born and raised in Orlando, and Socialist to the core, Patrick Jude graduated from The University Of Central Florida in 2015. He currently holds a B.A. in English Literature, as well as an A.A. in Jazz Performance from Valencia College. Jude is heavily tattooed, abstains from alcohol and is an avid Packers fan.
Currently Reading – Demons by Fyodor Dostoevsky
