Want to help? Soar above the 'frequent fliers'

If you remember a time of greater need than right now, you’re probably giving your age away.

You must be old enough to have felt the wrath of the Great Depression.

Today is no fiscal picnic. Businesses coast to coast are clinging to life, with many already having given up the fight. A $20 trillion stimulus package wouldn’t make America whole again.

Jobless claims have skyrocketed, with 13,341 Idahoans seeking unemployment insurance March 15-21. Don’t be surprised if that 1,200 percent increase over the previous week isn’t eclipsed in the next report, either.

So we’ve established that there’s tremendous need, yes? That in the past 80 years or more, the average worker’s solvency might never have been so fragile. Yet here in North Idaho, we’re lucky. More than many areas, we have resources to ameliorate explosive need.

This message is not for you who need help, but for you who are in a position to provide it. With requests for aid inundating virtually every local church and charity, as well as the newspaper, it’s easy to throw checks at the most compelling stories of woe. But that’s not the best way to address our community’s needs, now or in the long run.

As today’s story by Devin Weeks explains, three nonprofits have been fully vetted as embracing the right principles and practices to provide meaningful, effective assistance. That’s the gold-stamped recommendation from Maggie Lyons, founder of Charity Reimagined here in Kootenai County. Charity Reimagined is the organization that helped reshape Press Christmas for All, transforming it from a hand-out to a hand-up program. Every single recipient of your generosity was vetted and even now is being tracked to ensure that progress is being made in the ultimate quest of breaking the cycle of chronic poverty.

The “frequent fliers,” as they’re known in the nonprofit world — a relatively small percentage of hand-out seekers who consume a huge percentage of givers’ benevolence — will take advantage of generosity every chance they get. That doesn’t make them bad people, but their practice seriously blunts the effectiveness of meaningful charitable giving in a community.

Our recommendation is to read Devin’s article and, if you’re in a position to help, direct it toward the three organizations best equipped to provide real aid as our community grapples with the many tentacles of this pandemic. Invested wisely, your donations in a crisis will also have a positive impact on those who are chronically needy.