Hope, Expectations and Helping

by | Nov 24, 2008 | Learn, We Can Do Better - News |

“…nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change.” 
— Barack Obama, 2008 speech in New Hampshire

Across this nation and around the world people watched the election of our nation’s new president. Hope and expectations are high but our president-elect said it best on election night, “This victory alone is not the change we seek; it is only the chance for us to make that change.”

Whether your candidates won or lost, we have a long way to go before we can claim that any of our important issues are resolved. No single candidate can make these problems go away simply by being elected. They need us – our ideas, our voices and our active involvement – even (or perhaps especially) when we disagree. That’s what the Archimedes Movement supports – working with others who are inspired and passionate about reinventing health care in America. Be a voice for change at a time when this new administration needs to listen to the full range of ideas for solutions.

I lost my mom this summer, a powerful force in my life. She was 86 and had experienced adversity in her lifetime. Yet she still believed that anything was possible, because she had lived to see that which seemed impossible come to be in her lifetime. Her optimism and hope lives on in me, reminding me of Margaret Mead’s famous quote, “Never underestimate the power of a small group of committed people to change the world. In fact, it is the only thing that ever has.”

The economy has hit members of our community in ways that are visible and sometimes invisible. Matt, our outreach coordinator, came up with the mantra, “turkey, hunger and health.” It got the staff thinking of ways that we can make a difference now, while we’re working on change for the future. If your chapter is meeting, ask each person to bring some canned food and deliver it to the local food bank. Get a group together and volunteer to collect food, and package it for families in your neighborhood, congregation or community. We cannot sit by when others around us need our support.

Among health reform organizations, there is often talk of incremental steps toward health reform and making sure that we change what we can now, while working on the future. Well, in an economy that has taken so much from many people around us, you can make a difference today. Help someone in need this holiday season. We have people around us who lack adequate food, housing, employment, and the ability to buy holiday gifts for their children. Find a way to reach out a hand to those around you. Do it on your own, with your neighbors, with others from the Archimedes Movement. Remember, it’s all about health.

Here are just a couple of the many organizations providing relief in Oregon. There are wonderful people and organizations providing needed services all over the country.