As need grows, be a helper

Over the weekend, we pushed out a story regarding the recent announcement that the Wyoming Department of Family Services would halt Supplemental Assistance Program (SNAP) payments in November on social media and were incredibly heartened by the overwhelming consensus that neighbors should help neighbors. We were also saddened to receive messages from at least two people who have been directly impacted by this directive and to see, plainly, the undue stress and pain it is causing them.

But then, of course, the cycle moved on and we returned to work and covering the latest news. In Washington, D.C., it would appear our representatives are still, even now, squabbling over whether or not people should go hungry. At the time of writing this editorial, there is no legislation with overwhelming bipartisan support that will direct the Agriculture Department to release funding to SNAP recipients – or prevent a recurrence of this very issue with WIC, the federal program that assists women, infants and children under age five. It’s hard to square these two dueling natures: a humanity who is naturally inclined to be of service with a humanity who treats those with little material wealth as chattel. It’s difficult to think of a more unifying and basic issue than hunger, or that each person should be afforded the common dignity of knowing from where their next meal will come. And yet here we are: Those in power would use those in need as pawns in some much larger chess game, rigid ideologies for impassable borders. So it goes.

What keeps us from truly despairing in these moments – and it is so easy to give into cynicism – is that we not only believe the kindness put forward by our community is real, but that we know, at the very core, it is our common lot. We help each other. Whether we’re in big cities or small towns, when we’re down and out, and having the worst day of our life, someone comes along and offers us a hand.

It isn’t just volunteers at food pantries or crisis centers. It’s firefighters, police and ambulance workers. It’s doctors and nurses. It’s a stranger we never meet again. It’s the neighbor who stops when we spring a flat on the old dirt track home. It’s the friend who picks up on the first ring.

So how do we cut through the noise? How do we stop thinking that the whole world is falling apart and we’re all doomed? Probably, if we’re honest, by going outside and doing something good for someone else with no expectation of reward.

For many people, this has been a hard week and uncertainty lies ahead. We encourage you to help lighten their burden, however you can, by being a helper. If you can’t give, then do – even if all you can do is lend a smile and say ‘hello.’ For, as Mr. Fred Rogers once wisely said, it is the helpers we should look for in times like these.