Two kinds of economic indicators dominate at this time of year, and sometimes they don’t mesh particularly well.
On the plus side in Central Alberta, retail spending is up and the job market — driven by resurgent oil and agriculture industries — has improved.
On the negative side, local charitable groups are scrambling to answer pleas for help.
How can our economic conditions be improved but our generosity be diminished? Are we so uncertain about the long-term stability of the economy that we’re afraid to reach out to others? If so, how is it that we can find the courage to spend on other things but can’t make simple gestures of kindness?
After three years of sluggish economic results around the globe, any sign of resurgence is welcome.
In Alberta, we should embrace news that retail sales have bounced back. Sales were up 7.5 per cent year over year in September across the province, according to Statistics Canada. That month alone, $5.4 billion was spent on retail goods in Alberta.
And local retailers have reported strong spending this Christmas season. Parkland Mall manager Dan Hachey told the Advocate recently that mall retailers are reporting sales increases of three to 16 per cent over the past 12-plus months.
Other retailers echo those results, sometimes with even better numbers.
And the Red Deer region’s unemployment rate sat at 5.2 per cent in November, the most recent figures available.
That’s an improvement over the 5.6 per cent unemployment in the region a year ago, and significantly better than the national jobless rate of 7.4 per cent in November.
Yet Red Deer Food Bank officials said last week that seasonal food donations are off 20 per cent over traditional numbers; and cash donations are down about 10 per cent, or $40,000.
And the Red Deer Salvation Army has sounded the alarm about a shortage of volunteers (it needs 15 or 20 more people to man kettles) and fewer donations this year. The organization expects to help about 200 local families during the Christmas season, and wants to raise $185,000 to do that. To this point, $55,000 has been donated.
The Red Deer Christmas Bureau needs donations to look after hundreds of people. The group has received 880 applications for assistance so far this year, and last year it provided gifts for 1,100 to 1,200 children alone.
Other groups, including the Central Alberta Women’s Outreach, run programs for people in our community who can’t make ends meet at Christmas.
Certainly our charitable tendencies are ramped up during the Christmas season. It’s particularly painful to see people struggle at this time of year and many organizations help bring that into focus for us with their seasonal programs.
But the need for charity never fades and organizations like the food bank, Salvation Army and women’s outreach offer services year round, as does the United Way and any number of specialty organizations.
Where you give shouldn’t matter, ultimately. Nor should how much you give matter. So much good can be accomplished by simple acts of generosity, regardless of who the recipient is.
But we all need to reach out to others, and there is no better time than now.
John Stewart is the Advocate’s managing editor.