Our View: Generosity

These days, the news is full of stories about affordability — food, gas, housing, everything is more expensive — and the average working person, we’re told, is having a hard time keeping up. Most of us can relate.

 And yet, all around us, we see incredible generosity.

 Just turn to page 3 and check out the list of donors to our summer Helping Neighbors fundraiser for the Family Pantry of Cape Cod. Even though we reached our ambitious goal of $110,000 several weeks ago, donations continue to flow, in amounts small and large. We’re more than $6,000 past our goal, and still counting. This generosity is especially significant as there’s no quid pro quo — people dig into their pockets and give, not knowing who the money will benefit, just that it will help someone, a neighbor perhaps, keep food on the table.

 And then there is the $221,000 raised through Chatham’s Art in the Park auction. Donors bid on custom-made whales and sharks, sure, but they did so knowing that the money would benefit hard-working artists and help fund the Chatham Chamber of Commerce and Merchants Association events that help provide a sense of community. Similarly, Orleans is raising money through Boards in the Stores, which ends its auction after our deadline.

 Further, we have a story this week about the Phillips Farm Family, the perennial Chatham Fourth of July parade winners, auctioning scale models of iconic Chatham buildings from this year’s first-place float, to benefit Monomoy Community Services. That long-standing human services agency is putting the finishing touches on a much-needed renovation and expansion of its Depot Road building, and the proceeds from the Phillips Farm auction will help cover the final costs of the project.

So the next time you're experiencing sticker shock at the gas pump or cold sweats in the supermarket checkout line, remember this: despite the economic pressures we're all under, the good folks in our community are still digging deep to support worthy causes. Inflation or no, generosity is alive and well on the Lower Cape. And that's something to be thankful for.