Irene De La Cruz: A Time of Being Thankful and Giving

When opportunity comes your way, should you always respond? Some people would right away say, yes, of course, always. But is it always the right thing to do?

You have to be the judge of whether it would be an opportunity just for yourself or one that could eventually lead you to help others. It’s when you take the me, myself and I element, or what’s in it for me, out of the equation that it becomes clear seizing the opportunity is the right thing to do.

There are many opportunities for giving thanks during the holiday season. And seeing the generosity extended by individuals, nonprofit organizations and local businesses shows we are a caring community.

Granted, holidays seem to bring out the best in most people; but they give us so many unselfish opportunities to give back to those in need or just share our good fortune with someone else. If you look around the county, you will find either a coat drive, food drive or toy drive.

Every community in Merced County has a resource that can be tapped into during this time of need, but we have to be respectful of the recipients of these giveaways.

I’m sure most of them would rather have a job and sustain themselves during the holiday season, but hard times fall on all of us at one point or another, and we need to be cognizant of that . The key is not to give up on ourselves or our community.

For example, this past weekend, we came across a longtime friend who has been a role model to one of his young family members throughout the years, through good times and bad. The family member in question is a young man who, after graduating from high school, strayed in life for a while and even left this community.

But this young man’s uncle, a resident and downtown Merced business owner, never gave up on him, just as he has never given up on his community. Since the young man made his way back to Merced, his uncle has been there to guide him and support him along the way, just as he did when this man was much younger.

We were extremely happy to learn the young man now has two jobs and has returned to school at Merced College. He is another youth who will thrive in the future because someone cared and took the time to see it through for the benefit of the community as a whole.

This always takes me back to memories of my late mother. They are memories that I’m sure many others can relate to. If anyone came to her house to visit unexpectedly, she always scrambled looking for some type of food to offer. Even if she had a limited amount, she made it stretch.

During the holiday season, she always wanted to give those that visited her a gift, a small something for them to take away, and sometimes she would have me look through her drawers until I found something.

One woman in Planada told me that she would never forget my mom because of her kindness helping her family when they arrived in town. She told me my mom would not only encourage her not to give up, but she would also give her small amounts of food to help her out while their family got established.

Whether it’s a random act of kindness to an individual or showing gratitude by giving back to the community, it’s good for the soul. It’s one of those feel-good things in life that we actually have the liberty of doing throughout the year as well, but seems to be more heartfelt during the holiday season.

So I say, seize this opportunity for giving, however you see fit, especially during this holiday season.

This story was originally published November 27, 2014 at 7:22 PM with the headline "Irene De La Cruz: A Time of Being Thankful and Giving."