Charity and Guilt......Tis the Season

my office facilitates a holiday gift-giving service for the needy in central new york. every year at this time we serve as a drop off center for middle and upper middle class people to bring their gifts, which we distribute to poor people in the area. these gift-givers sponsor either individual children or families, giving them holiday presents and food items. sounds nice, huh?

one of the reasons why our office is the distribution center is that many of these gift-givers don't want to go directly to the recipients' houses, even though they know, by name, who it is they are sponsoring. many of the recipients live in what most would consider the projects. so, it is very convenient for the charitable people (most of whom are white and, as i said, middle or upper middle class) to give without the messy business of coming face to face with the poor. they can shop, feel good about giving without having to put themselves in harms way.

many of these gift-givers rush into the office with their loot, unload quickly and leave. the abruptness of the encounters is striking. again, they can feel good about giving, but they want to quckly excise themselves from the situation. they practically run out of the office. white, guilty flight.

today a white couple came in and dropped off a bunch of stuff, some items new and used. as they stood at the door i said, "thanks for your genorosity. i'm sure the recipients of your gifts will greatly appreciate them." at that point their eyes darted to the floor, and they scampered away without a word. apparantly guilt had their tounges in a vice grip.

don't know what to make of all this, but as someone interested in culture and class, these exchanges have been fascinating, prompting many questions: what motivates people to give to the poor? why do many of those who do give, feel so icky about it? what do the recipients actually think about these gifts and those who give them?

jb