Jeff Bezos makes nearly $2500.00 per second. I don't think we need to worry about him having enough money for groceries. The owners of our local small businesses and people who made less than $269/week however (and therefore didn't qualify for unemployment and haven't received money from the CARES act yet) may be having a difficult time putting food on the table. So, my plan is to try whenever possible to shop local (and be more diligent about it than ever before). My last Amazon order was for things I absolutely could not find anywhere else, including antibacterial soap and a thermometer; I was frustrated trying to find certain items and so I gave in. With people still hoarding and so forth, some items are just going to be impossible to find, but for those not so specific items, I look forward to supporting as many different small businesses as possible. I'm even thinking of canceling my Prime membership. The price keeps going up and I don't really use any of the "extra" services anyway.
- You can support local even if you aren't comfortable being out and about as our country reopens. A lot of companies have expanded to online options during the shutdown and it seems they intend to still keep those services available, at least for the foreseeable future.
Side note:The yoga studio I go to, Day Yoga Studio, has developed Livestream and on-demand classes. They just announced that they're looking to reopen May 26th but will still offer the online options. Throughout all of this, they have been able to stay in business by being creative and flexible. They kept in touch with their clientele and have come across with such a positive 'can do' attitude that they've been inspirational in their approach.
- You can tip more than normal. You can buy gift certificates/cards. If you use a shopping service (like Instacart) you can probably have almost anything local delivered to your door (contact-less).
- You can write a positive review of a place; share if you felt comfortable going there, if they were enforcing social distancing and other guidelines, what they're doing to make their customers feel safe.
Whatever we can do to help, is, of course, great, but if we can help in a way that allows others to help themselves, that may be more productive in regrowing our economy. It's like, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." Maimonides
“When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.
Leviticus 19:9-10 ESV
See also, Deuteronomy 24:19-22 and Ruth 2:8-23
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Please join me this week in praying for guidance as to what we can do, either individually, or collectively, to help those who are less fortunate than we are. Let's pray for God to show us someone in need who we can help.
I'll post daily reminders on:
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