Helping the needy in old-time Phoenix


There's nothing quite like Christmastime to bring into sharp focus that there are people who have, and those who have not. Of course, hunger knows no season, but the display of wealth that is traditional from Thanksgiving to Christmas just seems to be "an embarrassment of riches".

Speaking for myself, I often say that I never wanted to be rich, and I never wanted to be poor, and I got my wish. I am blessed to have a roof over my head, and food in my stomach. I've been lucky.

In the article at the top of this post, the word "Poor" is used. It's not a word that you hear much anymore, you usually hear "needy" or "homeless", or something else. And that's probably because it's really hard to define what "poor" means. I've known people who have described themselves as so poor that they had to drive an old junky car, or eat the dollar menu at McDonalds.

I've never been poor, but I've seen it. And it has nothing to do with having a junky car, or eating the dollar menu. It's not having a car at all, not even decent shoes. It's being hungry all of the time, and trying to live on rice. It's many people living in a tiny space, squeezed together like sardines, and maybe not having a place to live at all. And of course it's the children who suffer the most.

In my imagination the Christmas Cheer that Mr. and Mrs. Shearer are sharing in 1918 are seen as a true Christmas miracle by the needy people who go to the Adams Hotel (where the Renaissance Hotel is now, at Central and Adams). Each child will get a stocking containing oranges, apples, nuts and toys.
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