We talk a lot at NCGives about what we call "philanthropy of community." It's the kind of everyday giving that happens between neighbors, family, friends, and even strangers, and it plays an important role alongside the giving that comes "from the top down" (such as from foundations)...

 
...That's why a few weeks ago, when I heard a certain interview on NPR’s “The Story,” it just about broke my heart.

It was the story of Frances Reed, a 72-year-old woman living in a tiny condo in South Carolina. With a master’s degree in public education, she spent most of her working life traveling around the United States, Mexico and South America as a health educator among poor communities. In 1972, Frances even helped put together the first WIC (Women, Infants, & Children) nutrition program, which to this day gives low-income children a chance at a healthier life.

But today, Frances herself lives in poverty. Because her work as a health educator was scraped together as a patchwork of federal grants, extra money for savings wasn’t really in the picture. Now, her entire Social Security check goes to keep a roof over her head, and she depends 100% on food stamps (and the kindness of others) to stay fed. When doctors’ bills come in the mail, she “throw[s] them in the trash,” knowing she can’t pay.

During the interview, Frances recalled a day when she was in line at the grocery store, and realized she didn’t have enough quarters to buy her soy burgers (she’s vegetarian) along with her few other items. She was about to leave with only some potatoes and a banana, when the woman in line behind her told the cashier to put Frances’ food on her bill. They later discovered that the woman and her son had once benefited from the very WIC program that Frances had helped establish.

However, most of Frances’ other experiences with poverty have not been so hopeful. She talked about her parents living through the Depression, and war rations, and how folks used to help each other out, no questions asked. Now, she says, “people really don’t care about their neighbors so much anymore...[It’s] fear. People are so scared of each other, people who look different, who talk different...they’re destroying their own lives living in such fear.”

In our work here at NCGives, we’ve met with a lot of folks who experience generosity from their neighbors, and so Frances’ story really got me thinking: In your own experience, does “neighborly compassion and generosity” still exist? Or do you think our society has gotten into a rut of fear-fed isolation and selfishness?

Vote your answer in the poll at the top of this post, and/or leave a comment below.

I’ll reveal all the results next week, and share some of what we’ve found in our studies around North Carolina.