Thankfully, some acts of charity are chronicled to serve as wonderful reminders to us of the goodness that we sometimes forget was so prevalent in the Old West. Sadly, many focus on the gunplay in the Old West while forgetting that such violence was actually not that common back in the day. In reality, there were more acts of goodness and respect for human life than there were the other. But sadly, as is the case today, the goodness in people is not what fills the newspapers. As with what we see today, we hear about the worst in people and seldom hear praise for the work of our better Angels.
When looking at our better selves in the Old West, we should understand that charity was something shown all year round back in the day. Some acts of charity had to do with providing orphan homes and widows with jobs and clothing, establishing old soldiers' retirement homes, and providing the poor with warm meals. There were big and small acts of charity that we can look at as a testament to who we are -- if we are at all like those who came before us.
One small but wonderful act of charity came from a school in Fresno, California, in 1895. All in all, what took place was pretty simple. And yes, the San Francisco Call newspaper published the story about it. The story was buried in the paper, but I like it because it shows what we are capable of doing -- even when we aren't asked to do more.
One small but wonderful act of charity came from a school in Fresno, California, in 1895. All in all, what took place was pretty simple. And yes, the San Francisco Call newspaper published the story about it. The story was buried in the paper, but I like it because it shows what we are capable of doing -- even when we aren't asked to do more.
What was asked? Well, a teacher asked the schoolchildren to bring one potato and a stick of wood each for Christmas baskets that were being made up for poverty-stricken families. That's all that was asked of the kids. They were asked to bring in a single potato so someone could have something to eat and a single stick of wood to burn so that someone may be able to stay warm.
So now, you can see how incredible it was that those kids brought in enough potatoes to make up 40 sacks of spuds. That's a lot of spuds by any measure. But for each of them to bring in enough wood to make up 25 cords of wood is just mindboggling.
Per the San Francisco Call, Volume 79, Number 21, 21 December 1895
FRESNO, Cal., Dec. 20.— School children were taught a splendid object lesson in practical Christmas charity this morning. A few days ago a movement was set on foot to have each child bring a stick of wood and one potato to school for distribution among the poor on Christmas.
The teachers took hold of the matter and fixed this morning as the time for the bringing of the articles. Every child brought something this morning, and some made more than one trip. Many of the little tuts were struggling along the streets quite overloaded with donations.
Some of the children took armfuls of wood, some little wagons or wheelbarrows loaded with it, and some of the larger boys shouldered four-foot sticks of wood. Some children took canned food and some took potatoes, others clothing of one kind or another, until the schools' contributions amounted to something very substantial.
In all about forty sacks of potatoes and about twenty-five cords of wood, besides considerable clothing and other articles were brought to the schools by the children. The kind kids brought these items and delivered large quantities of canned goods and clothing.
(end of San Francisco Call, 21 December 1895 article).
GIFTS TO FRESNO'S NEEDY
Splendid Christmas Donations Made by School Children
FRESNO, Cal., Dec. 20.— School children were taught a splendid object lesson in practical Christmas charity this morning. A few days ago a movement was set on foot to have each child bring a stick of wood and one potato to school for distribution among the poor on Christmas.
The teachers took hold of the matter and fixed this morning as the time for the bringing of the articles. Every child brought something this morning, and some made more than one trip. Many of the little tuts were struggling along the streets quite overloaded with donations.
Some of the children took armfuls of wood, some little wagons or wheelbarrows loaded with it, and some of the larger boys shouldered four-foot sticks of wood. Some children took canned food and some took potatoes, others clothing of one kind or another, until the schools' contributions amounted to something very substantial.
In all about forty sacks of potatoes and about twenty-five cords of wood, besides considerable clothing and other articles were brought to the schools by the children. The kind kids brought these items and delivered large quantities of canned goods and clothing.
(end of San Francisco Call, 21 December 1895 article).
So now, you can see how incredible it was that those kids brought in enough potatoes to make up 40 sacks of spuds. That's a lot of spuds by any measure. But for each of them to bring in enough wood to make up 25 cords of wood is just mindboggling.
If you use wood to heat your home like I do, then you know that 25 cords of wood is a lot of wood. And to think, that was brought in by children. Yes, to me, that is inspirational.
You see, while Christmas gives us wonderful memories of families and friends warm and happy during gatherings, it allows us to recall the scene of folks laughing and smiling and sharing the love of Christmas, the celebration of the birth of Christ, and the richness of us knowing that we really are as good as our better Angels, we should take a moment to pray for those with less. As we all know, there is power in prayer.
Of course, if we can give something to help others, even if it's small and all we can do, then we should. After all, our actions go a long way to make prayers come true.
Merry Christmas!
Tom Correa
