When I was a kid, I often lost or forgot my coat (somehow) in the Winter. You would think that with it being overly cold here in Alaska, I would be careful not to forget something so important, right? The biggest pitfall that a kid without a coat should encounter is getting cold. In my neighborhood, that wasn't true. In my neighborhood, there was Mr. Smith (name changed for confidentiality). Mr Smith was the law and the only reg on the books was that if it was cold outside, you wear your coat. If he caught you outside without your coat, you got whitewashed. For those new to the term, whitewashing is pushing a person face down into the snow and rubbing snow all over their face. It is not fun, and Mr. Smith was mostly successful in reminding the kids of the importance of wearing a jacket in the Winter. As awful as this anecdote my seem on paper, it wasn't that bad and we still liked Mr. Smith even if we were (slightly) afraid of him. On reflection, I feel lucky to even have a coat to begin with. Not every kid is so lucky and those from families with lower income may feel a pain that is deeper and longer lasting than a face full of snow: social rejection.
Recently, I was approached by the Anchorage Fire Department to see if I would be interested in helping with a charity program they participating in. It called Operation Warm and the long and the short of it is that the program aims to empower children from low income backgrounds by providing brand new coats free of charge. Many of us take for granted the fact that we got new coats as kids and may not realize that children from low income situations may rarely see new clothing of any type and in some cases aren't even equipped with used jackets to wear in the Winter. Some kids will refuse to wear a used coat to school because of the social implications. We all know that kids can be sweet but they can also be mean. Who among us does not remember the sting of social rejection at that age? This program aims to help children's self esteem by elevating their sense of worth and providing them with something that is new and theirs alone. I conceded that it's a pragmatic solution to a larger social question but by and large it is a righteous cause and has been met with positive feedback in the past. This year, the firefighters at Station 3 (on Airport Heights) are teaming up with Operation Warm to provide coats to a number of children at Williwaw Elementary.
As a business, Community Chiropractic Clinic, LLC maps out our annual public service and charity contributions for the next year in December. We do this for a number of reasons but principally we do it because it guarantees that we perform a certain amount of service and it helps us focus our service so that it has a more meaningful result. As an added bonus it makes it easier to say "no" the the myriad of opportunities for service that we are presented with on an annual basis. One can only do so much and we want to a good job on that which we choose to do. That being said, Operation Warm was not part of our 2014 annual plan but we felt that we could make a little room for it this year. It is one of the things that we felt would truly make a difference for these kids. Next Tuesday, a fundraising event will be help to help secure the funds needed to provide these coats. Have I mentioned that the coats themselves are made right here in the good old U.S. of A and help provide additional jobs to our economy? We are proud to be a part of this program for the 1st time this year (I believe this is the 3rd time they have done this program) and look forward to the results it will bring. Personally and professionally, I have a few different public service avenues that I like to participate in, and I encourage you all to have at least 1 thing that you do too. Giving from the heart is non-zero-sum and if everyone gave a little beyond what we do for our jobs, we would all be better off. It's also part of living a truly happy and healthy life.
Until next week!
Kelly Ryan, DC
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