EMPTY SHELVES AND ZERO BANK ACCOUNT

By Connie Wenzel-Jordan, Editor

September 16, 2011

Following yesterday’s food pantry distribution to Rehoboth families in need, the shelves are once again empty at Rehoboth Helping Hands Food Pantry.  According to manager Steve Martin, the non-profit organization’s bank account regularly falls to zero too.  Without a steady stream of donations to replenish the shelves, he must resort to pulling out his credit card in order to purchase enough food and basic necessity supplies for Thursday distribution.  “Paying interest on credit is a waste,” he says, but he has no other choice.  But he doesn’t complain because he has faith things will work out.

Each week, an average of 65 to 75 families or individuals come to the Food Pantry for a week’s worth of food and other basic necessities like toilet paper and soap.  In the past, the number of people in dire need can reach 100 weekly recipients.  Come November and December, the requests for holiday baskets come in and that number is even greater.

Somehow Steve manages to support those in need when they arrive to pick up a couple bags of groceries every week.  These are proud people who are not happy to be asking for help, but they are desperate and need more than just food.  Once in a while, Steve is able to put some paper napkins or a roll of paper towels in the distribution bags.  Everyone needs toilet paper, soap, shampoo, and toothpaste, but those items are not usually donated.  Steve purchases those basic necessities at discount stores.   He has some dedicated coupon-clipping and discount-hunting helpers who volunteer their time and gas to help him shop for deals every week. 

Donations of non-perishable food trickle in through a variety of community sources.  Once a year, local Boy Scouts organize a major drive. The Rehoboth Business Association sponsors a monthly donation drop and there is a steady stream of donations made at the Senior Center, it is never enough.  Fortunately various community organizations hold food drives or ask for food pantry donations in lieu of an admission fee.  One of those events is coming up next weekend at NEATTA’s Fall Antique Tractor and Truck Show/Swap Meet and Auction to be held at Francis Farm.  They won’t be charging admission to this family event, they just ask for food or cash donations.

When Steve does receive a bulk of donations, they need to be sorted and checked for expired goods.  Sadly, many people donate out-dated items.  Maybe they just don’t take the time to check the expiration date.  Or maybe they think it just doesn’t matter.  But it does.  Steve can not distribute expired cans or packaged goods.  They must go directly to the landfill and he has to pay for disposal.  But the man never complains.  He’s just sincerely grateful that 75 percent of the donations are good to use.

With autumn just around the corner, Helping Hands’ empty bank account becomes even more problematic.  Money is needed for the fuel assistance program.  People who don’t have enough money to buy food, also do not have enough money to keep their homes warm. Helping them takes cash to pay for oil or propane or a cord of wood.  “Last winter we supported about 60 families who desperately needed help to keep their homes warm.”

History judges a society by the way its most vulnerable citizens are treated.  Rehoboth’s colonial founders knew that and believed in helping each other.  Actually, those people were very serious about opening up their newly found community to anyone who wanted to work hard.  These were all vulnerable people struggling to survive, harvest by harvest, winter by winter.  So they helped each other and somehow managed to build a town named Rehoboth.  As they prospered, they created a society where the most fortunate helped those in need.  It’s how they lived. 

The majority of us fill our grocery carts every week without much thought of buying extra stuff for the food pantry.  But if we all make it a habit to always purchase enough extra times to fill a bag for Helping Hands, the shelves of would never be empty.  And if you don’t have time to do that, please considering writing out a check - today.

Please make checks payable to: Rehoboth Helping Hands, 127 Martin Street, Rehoboth, MA 02769.

REHOBOTH FOOD PANTRY, INC. is recognized by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) with public charity status, or a 501 (c) (3) organization.  Your cash contributions are deductible.  Also deductible are devises, bequests, and transfers.

MATCHING CASH DONATIONS many employers have matching gift programs for non-profit organizations.  Please inquire at work if your cash donation to Rehoboth Helping Hands can be matched by your employer.

This editorial initially was intended to encourage all Rehoboth residents to attend the upcoming Special Town Meeting and vote on a warrant of twenty issues.  But now I’ve decided to address the women of Rehoboth.  Considering the town meeting is our form of municipal government, the attendance numbers are shameful.  Last May, only 266 people attended the final session of the annual town meeting. Only 249 attended the first session. 

Rehoboth now has a total population of over 10,500 individuals, half of those women.  In the last three years, the greatest number of people who attended a town meeting was 687 for the first session of the May 24, 2010 meeting.  That number dropped to 332 for the second session and 273 for the third.  The lowest number in recent years was a whooping 216 for the October 2009 special town meeting.

So what’s the problem?  People always say they want a voice.  They want transparency in government.  But why can’t they come to town meetings?  The traditional Monday night meeting may be the problem.  I’ve heard women of various ages complain that attending a Monday night meeting is almost impossible for them.  Their individual reasons don’t really matter; if anything restricts women (and men too) from attending town meeting to vote on important issues, then something needs to be changed.

In every U.S. election since 1980, women have voted in higher rates than men, and the gender gap is growing slightly larger with each election. According to the Census Bureau, ten million more women voted than men in the 2008 elections.  This at a time when the overwhelming majority of political office holders are still male.  When was the last time a woman occupied a seat on the Rehoboth Board of Selectmen? 

In the first decade of this millenium, women have actually lost ground as elected officials.  Only 24 percent hold seats in state legislatures, only six are governors, and only 15 percent are mayors of cities with populations of over 100,000.  In terms of women serving in national legislatures, we are ranked 71st out of 189 countries, falling behind Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates and Cuba.

Listen to Women and You Might Change Everything

What can we do about the poor attendance at town meetings?

By Connie Wenzel-Jordan, Editor

October 27, 2011

The White House Project (TWHP) is a national, non-partisan organization dedicated to “advancing a richly diverse, critical mass of women into the political pipeline, and fostering the entry of women into positions of leadership in all sectors, up to and including the U.S. presidency.”

Through 10 years of research, thought-leadership and award-winning training, TWHP has demonstrated that having women as political leaders increases participation in our democracy, inspires women of all sectors to take leadership roles, introduces new policy priorities, and increases transparency and bipartisan efforts in government.

According to their research, the tenor of the whole campaign changes when a man and a woman are running for office. “During a campaign with both a male and female candidate, both candidates devote more attention and advertising to traditional women’s issues than they do when only men are in the race. No matter who wins the particular election, when the important issues affecting women, children and families are given the public airing and policy consideration they deserve, everyone wins.”

Additionally, simply watching women run for office has been shown to galvanize female citizens, making them more interested and actively involved in the political arena. “Since children model their dreams on what adults and society show them to be possible, the increased visibility of women on the campaign trail teaches girls that they, too, can make a difference in politics when they grow up. it also teaches boys to respect and accept women as leaders actively participating in public life.”

You will see the names of many women if you look at the list of those who serve the Town of Rehoboth, as employees, elected official or volunteers.  While women serve on most all of the 27 boards or committee, only six are chaired by women.  Two groups consist completely of women, the Cemetery Commission and Cultural Council. No women serve on the BOS, Planning Board, or Zoning Board of Appeals, three powerful groups that make decisions that affect everyone in town.

Numbers matter: critical mass makes all the difference

According to TWHP, we need a “critical mass of women — not just within organizations, but in senior levels of leadership and on boards — to make a difference.”  Over the last thirty years, the term “critical mass” has become a popular term borrowed from science and sociology, referring to the quantity needed to start a chain reaction, an irreversible propulsion into a new situation or process.

In a 2008 Pew research center study, the public rated women above men in five of the eight character traits they value highly in their leaders (honesty, intelligence, creativity, outgoingness, compassion) and equal to men in two others (hardworking, ambition). Men rated higher (by 10 percent more respondents) in only one trait— decisiveness.

“The current economic and financial crisis, the likes of which we have not seen since the great Depression, calls for a different kind of leadership to steer us toward stability. A growing body of research demonstrates that women’s “risk-smart” leadership is perfectly suited to what our nation needs to get on the right track,” reads a report on TWHP website.

“Perhaps nowhere is achieving a critical mass for women more important than in politics. Women’s under-representation in top positions at the city, state and federal levels severely limits their ability to ensure women’s needs and interests are addressed in the halls of power. And because office holders are very much in the public eye, the lack of women in elected office restricts the availability of role models for younger women and girls to lead political lives.

The women of Rehoboth can begin by attending the Special Town Meeting.  Figure out how to be there on November 7 and let’s begin building a critical mass of women who can work together for the future of Rehoboth.   With time and effort, we may be able to change the traditional Monday night town meeting to something more practical and inclusive . . . so that a couple hundred people aren’t making all the decisions for everyone.

Releasing Our Better Angels

By Connie Wenzel-Jordan, Editor

December 21, 2011

A recent front page story in the Attleboro Sun Chronicle focused on school bullying and one local teen’s story of ongoing torment by her peers, despite the administrative action taken by the school. While applauding anti-bullying efforts, as mandated by law, we live in a culture where intimidation is pervasive, accepted and admired.

Teaching children that bullying is wrong is like telling them to not set fires in a world that is already burning. Fear-based control has become a cultural norm. Changing the status quo will require releasing the better angels of our nature, the ones that are currently woefully outnumbered.

How can we teach kids not to bully others when the powerful and wealthy in our society have elevated it to an art form?  Coercion and deception are all around us.  Kids see it everyday, maybe not in their own homes if they are lucky, but they see it everywhere else.  It’s not only the people who are “different” that become targets.  All of us are subjected to passive-aggression at every turn. Granted, it’s more subtle than getting shoved against a locker or being called nasty, hurtful names.  But, it’s just as damaging.

Being a good American consumer is an endless adventure of manipulation. Retailers are masters of this universe.  Think Black Friday and Cyber Monday.  If you want the special discount, you’ll be jumping through their hoops. Saying “no, thanks” will only trigger an invasion of unwanted attention. When we do say yes, we begin receiving bills that are intentionally confusing. They want us to pay, no questions asked. That’s coercion.  If you call customer service, you are likely to experience varying degrees of torturous waiting, interrogation and, ultimately, a feeling of hopelessness. That’s bullying.

Even those little plastic customer tags on your keychain are somewhat menacing. You better have one for each store you patronize.  That is, if you don’t want to pay inflated prices, or miss out on those special deals. That’s the passive part. Their real intention is to track and analyze your every move as a customer.  It’s the equivalent of “Hey, kid, give me your milk money, or I’ll beat you up.”

Just last week, the national Lowe’s home improvement store chain was bullied by a conservative Christian group, the Florida Family Association, into pulling advertising from a reality show about a group of Muslim families from Dearborn, Michigan, a city with a population of 30,000 Arab Americans. As a result, the Muslim Public Affairs Council is calling for a nation-wide boycott of Lowe’s and plans to target other companies next year. Bullies beget other bullies.

If children watch any television, they are tossed around in a perfect storm of intimidation and meanness.  Even children’s programs are full of people and other creatures that habitually target the vulnerabilities of others, even loved ones and friends. Pick any small defect and run with it, laughing all the way.  Reality and competition shows are structured around fear, as it helps create the tension and conflict required for good ratings.  We are so accustomed to the false sense of “caring” that is integral to these programs, we think offensive treatment is normal. Cue the violins, the browbeating is done for all the right reasons, with all the best intentions.  Even ghosts are not exempt from being taunted and bullied.

Older children, and certainly adolescents, are keenly aware that people use intimidation to beat others into submission.  It’s hard to miss when the leaders of our society, the ones with the power, do whatever it takes to cut down their competition.  In today’s culture, if someone is different or does not share our particular viewpoint, it is perfectly acceptable to intentionally go after them. It’s even okay to exploit a clear lack of defensive skills.  There is no honor in that. What begins with taunts and trash talk, quickly escalates to a premeditated, strategic campaign of destruction. Sadly, it doesn’t stop there.  Even when someone has been rendered powerless, the pack of wolves will continue to circle, waiting to attack once again.

Many schools now have a no-tolerance policy for bullying.  Unfortunately there is no such policy in the adult world.  Maybe children should just be taught how to deal with the inevitable cycle of passive-aggression they will face all their lives. Or maybe, just maybe, they can break the cycle.  We can teach them they have a choice, as we all do, to release the better angels of our nature - tolerance, understanding and good will.  It’s the honorable thing to do.