Poverty Doesn’t End With Holiday Season : O.C.’s Laudable Generosity Needs to Continue All Year

There’s nothing like putting a human face on poverty to induce people to open the purse strings.

In November The Times Orange County edition printed a series of articles on poverty. In a county known for Mercedes Benzes and high-priced meals, for designer clothes and million-dollar yachts, it has been easy to overlook the poor.

But after the series detailed how little some residents make and how hard it is to live from one paycheck to the next, readers dug deeply into their pockets. It was an impressive display of generosity.

Drew Ingram and her family, one of the subjects in the series, received more than $3,000 in cash and gift certificates, plus food, clothing, toys and other gifts. One group of young Newport Beach Indian Guides brought Ingram and her children presents, food and a tree for Christmas. Ingram called the gifts “incredible” and said it was difficult to believe others would help out so much.

In an especially telling, and appropriate, incident, a nonprofit agency that had helped the Ingrams in the past telephoned to offer a Christmas gift and food basket. Ingram declined with thanks, suggesting the gifts be passed on to a needier family. Ingram’s own generosity underlined the fact that there are many families in Orange County that need help. These mothers, fathers and children will welcome assistance next month and the month after that, as much as the Ingrams did in December.

The season that starts with Thanksgiving and runs through Christmas and Hannukah traditionally spurs people to think about those less well off. There is a good spirit of giving alive in the land for those few weeks. But the need for help continues through the year, and has grown in recent years.

Unfortunately, as the need has grown, the willingness or ability of many people to help has waned. The 1990s started with recession. Layoffs in the defense and aerospace industries hurt; housing prices fell; the county’s bankruptcy cost many government workers their jobs.

Among those who could give, there has been a strong tendency to be sure the dollars were well spent and to see just where they went. That’s why showing pictures of people in need, in newspapers or on television, often brings in donations to individuals or charities.

Orange County has had an uneven record in supporting charities and nonprofit organizations. On the plus side, private donors were responsible for building Orangewood, the home for abused and neglected children, and the Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa. On the minus side, a United Way survey two years ago found contributions to the Orange County branch of the charity averaged half the amount in Santa Clara County and 30% less than the figure for San Diego County.

San Diego has done a better job of providing shelter for the homeless, too. The county has beds for nearly half of its estimated 7,200 homeless people. In Orange County, an estimated 12,000 to 15,000 people--many of them children--are homeless at any one time during a month. Yet there are beds for fewer than one of every 12 of those homeless.

One noteworthy element in the series was the large number of people who worked but were still short on cash. One man, landscaper Constantino Antonio, suffered a pay cut from $400 to $250 per week after his company was sold. His hope was to find a better job. Until he gets one, he probably will require periodic assistance. That’s where charities fill a need, one that lasts year-round, and depends on the generosity of Orange County residents.