Lindsey Gutterman with her daughter, Sadie
We all give for different reasons. Most of us feel especially good about giving during the holidays. This season, my family gave Christmas gifts to a family from the Congo, as part of the Jewish Family Service Bright Holidays program. My personal giving goal was to teach my children how fortunate they are. I quickly realized that this is not a once a year lesson. This family, (a mother and five children), spent the last eight years in a refugee camp in Zimbabwe and came to Denver a few months ago with nothing. Their needs are monumental and unfortunately those needs don’t go away after Christmas. As the holidays pass, and we enter a new year, I decided it was time for reflection on why I give and what I want from giving. After all, giving is as much for the giver as for the receiver.
This reflection has sparked quite a bit of discussion in my house. How much is too much? If we can’t save the world, can we make a dent by helping one family? My six-year-old recently met the eight-year-old from this refugee family. Her questions had nothing to do with need and everything to do with the universal language of kids. “Do you like Beyonce? What about Taylor Swift? Do you like to sing? Do you want a French fry?”
The trauma and loss that this family has experienced cannot be erased by a pair of boots or a Barbie doll, or even a French fry, but it certainly made me feel better to know that I brought a smile to a child’s face at Christmas. Somehow I must help my children understand that coming to Denver is the first step, on a long path, for this family. They are now faced with the overwhelming task of learning about a new culture, new people, new language and a public school system—not to mention that they have never seen the snow!
Sadie, Jackson, and Ethan Gutterman
I am lucky to work at Jewish Family Service where I see different needs and different forms of help. JFS helps people with immediate needs, like food and emergency assistance, and helps with long-term issues in the form of counseling and job training, among other things.
It takes all kinds of organizations and all kinds of givers. What I am realizing is that my strategy can change from year to year. Sometimes I have an overwhelming desire to save the world—and sometimes the world is just too overwhelming.
This year, I want to do what I can to help this one family. This year, I am trying a new strategy. I want to show my children that the gifts we give don’t end when the wrapping paper comes off. Sometimes, that is where the gift begins.
-Lindsey Gutterman, JFS Director of Marketing and Communications
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