People helping people

Each week through the remainder of the year, our 2004 “Celebrations” section will feature stories about people helping people. The first article in this series, on page 3S, sets a goal for The River Reporter: we will collect food for the hungry, clothing for children and goods for our troops overseas, and then donate the items to local groups that know exactly where help is needed.

Helping others help themselves is the mission of Tom’s Soup Kitchen in Monticello, NY, where volunteers serve hungry folks hot meals every day of the week. They even send them home with bags of groceries.

Many of the clients have recently lost jobs, while others suffer from debilitating injuries. Some walk several miles every day for a free meal, but they say the community experience at the kitchen is well worth the effort. Volunteers will be serving sit-down dinners to clients at Thanksgiving and Christmas this year.

Next week, readers will learn about Interfaith Opportunities Unlimited, a consortium of six churches in the Callicoon, NY area that hands out free Thanksgiving turkeys to local families in need.

‘Celebrations’ promises a reason to celebrate

By KIMBERLY M. WEYANDT

At The River Reporter our job is to report the news. When something happens, we’re there to record it and report it to the community.

As reporters we see a lot. Some of it happy, some of it sad, but all stories need to be told. And so we write the tales of others, their successes or failures, and then we move on, to the next story.

But sometimes a story will stick with us and tug at our memories while we sleep. These are the stories that leave us wondering, what now?

When a factory closes, what will the workers do now? When a parent loses a job, what will the family do now?

These stories, while they appear sad and grim, can sometimes have remarkably happy endings. Sometimes mothers, fathers, daughters and sons really become a family in times of hardship. Sometimes people can pull through the most difficult situations and end up better off than they were when their hardship began.

As we go through life we are separated into categories, sometimes arbitrarily, depending on anything from where we live and where we’re from to how old we are and how much money we make. Every day, we even categorize ourselves with these boundary lines.

I have some news to report: We’re really not that different.

We all have basic needs for food, water, clothing and shelter. When these needs aren’t met and we don’t have the means to provide for ourselves, we need help. And sometimes it is the kindness of strangers who will lend a hand and help us back to our feet when we need it most.

That’s why we call our special section during holiday season “Celebrations.”

This year, we celebrate the reasons we’re the same. We celebrate the triumph of people and the communities in which we live. People helping people, and people helping themselves.

The kindness of strangers can be found everywhere. Sometimes it is a co-worker who picks you up when you’re down, and sometimes it is the woman who smiles as she hands out plates of hot food at the local soup kitchen.

At The River Reporter our job is to report the news. As reporters we see a lot. This holiday season, we don’t want to be categorized. This holiday season, we want to be one with the communities we live in.

The newspaper staff has agreed on three catefories of need in Wayne and Pike counties of Pennsylvania and Sullivan and Orange counties of New York. The areas are food for the hungry, clothing for children and goods for our troops overseas.

Our office building will serve as a drop-off point for items that we will deliver to organizations in the region that have agreed to partner with us.

Food will be divided and distributed to Tom’s Soup Kitchen of Sullivan County, the Salvation Army Food Pantry of Orange County, the Wayne County Food Pantry and the Human Development Office of Pike County.

Clothing for children will be divided and distributed to Sullivan County’s Community Action Committee to Help the Economy (CACHE), the Salvation Army of Orange County and Pike County Children and Youth Services of Pike County.

Items for troops will be sent to Afghanistan and Iraq through Stephanie Johnson of Operation Support Our Troops.

This holiday season we ask you to help us. Spread the news of what we’re doing throughout your community. Help us help those in need. Give donations when you can, so that you might receive donations when you need them. We will be accepting donations until December 16.

The River Reporter is located at 93 Erie Avenue in Narrowsburg, NY.

For more information call 845/252-7414.

Items for Troops

Powdered drink mix

Tuna and chicken in pop-top cans

Dried fruit

Chips in hard canisters

Instant oatmeal packets

Breakfast bars

Chocolate bars

Tissues

Lotion

Foot-care products

Black tube socks

Non-medicated lubricating eye drops

Baby wipes

Dust masks

Crossword books

Greeting cards

Hot hands-hand warmers

AT&T phone cards

Items other than food for pantries

Formula

Diapers

Soap

Toothpaste

Shampoo

Shaving cream

Razors

Mouthwash