Remember the poor

Tis the season to remember.

If you have lived long enough you've no doubt experienced a time when life thumps you on the head and says, "Who do you think you are?"

One of mine came some 20 years ago as I headed to the Las Vegas Review-Journal on a Saturday morning to push a little paperwork.

A couple of the younger kids were with me. (Raising five children is no easy privilege, so we often employed the "divide and conquer" strategy of parenting on weekends.) Anyway, as we pulled off the freeway and came to a stop at Rancho, a beggar had staked out the corner. One of the kids asked what he was doing.

I took it as a teachable moment and told him he was a panhandler begging for money. But, I said, a lot of these guys are really scam artists. He's probably not as bad off as he appears and even though his sign said "Hungry," he probably wasn't. In fact, I told the kids that if anyone dared to give him food instead of money he'd probably throw it away and pitch a fit.

Our car came to rest behind a big-ol' lifted pick-up truck with bumper stickers about gun rights and how good animals taste.

As the beggar worked his way up the line of stopped cars, some gave him spare change and others ignored him. The driver of the truck in front of us, however, reached to his side and pulled out a sandwich, presumably from his own lunch pail, stuck it out the window and offered it down to the beggar.

"Here we go," I thought. Wise old dad is about to impart some sage advice to the kids. The beggar won't take the sandwich and he'll cuss out the guy in the truck for not giving him money.

But, as life said to me that day, "Who do you think you are?"

The beggar took the sandwich. Smiled at the driver, damn near jumped up and kissed him, tore the sandwich out of the plastic baggie and wolfed it down in three bites. It looked like he had not eaten in two days.

The kids looked at me. I looked at the kids, and then the beggar. We gave him our spare change.

We later had a good talk about what we had seen.

Point No. 1: Dad is still learning things, too.

Point No. 2: When in doubt, lean toward generosity, not judgment.

Point No. 3: Nothing wrong with giving spare change now and again, but, if you really care, use your head to find effective solutions instead of a one-time salve for the heart.

No better time to tell that story than today, the day after Christmas. I hope you and yours had a wonderful Christmas filled with joy and love. Now is a good time to use your head and think about the organizations in Las Vegas who do the gritty work every day of alleviating suffering.

I'll give you four I know to be particularly effective. No particular order.

-- Three Square is "the food solution for Southern Nevada." A partnership with private and public entities to "serve hope to the hungry." Very effective and, I'm sorry to say, as good as Three Square is, the need is greater. You can donate by calling 702-644-3663.

-- St. Jude's Ranch for Children "serves all abused, abandoned and neglected children and families, creating new chances, new choices and new hope in a safe, homelike environment." You can donate by calling 702-294-7102. (Complete disclosure: I sit on the national board for St. Jude's and I happen to know it costs $175 to feed one child for a month. Hint. Hint.)

-- Salvation Army -- no one is in the trenches any more than The Salvation Army -- assists thousands of Nevadans every year with the distribution of food vouchers, food boxes, emergency utility bill payments, health and work cards, clothing and miscellaneous household items. You can donate at a bell-ringer in front of your favorite store, or call 702-870-4430.

--- Catholic Charities -- what I said about Salvation Army goes ditto for Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada -- which takes donations at any Catholic church, or you can find out more by calling 702-385-2662.

Don't be like I was that day at the Rancho interchange. Remember the poor, for them the light at the end of the tunnel may be you.

Sherman Frederick writes a column for Stephens Media. He is a Las Vegas resident, the former publisher of the Las Vegas Review-Journal and a member of the Nevada Newspaper Hall of Fame. He can be reached by e-mail at sfrederick@reviewjournal.com. Read his blog at lvrj.com/blogs/sherm.