“We are guilty of many errors and many faults but our worst crime is abandoning the children, neglecting the fountain of life.  Many of the things we need can wait.  The child cannot.  Right now is the time his bones are being formed, his blood is being made, and his senses are being developed.  To him we cannot answer, ‘Tomorrow.’  His name is ‘Today.’ “

–  Gabriela Mistral

Last weekend, we received a phone call from our granddaughter, Cheyenne.  She is 4 year old — well, “four and a half,” she would correct me — and she wanted to know whether Grandma and Grandpa could come to watch her first basketball game.  I won’t lie and tell  you that it was a gripping, closely contested scoring match.  Actually, the contest was more one of who could throw the ball high enough to reach the rim, but the kids had a great time and the coaches worked patiently at helping them to understand the basic skills and rules of the game of basketball.  A line of folding chairs encircled the church gym; and parents watched from the sidelines, ready to bandage a boo-boo or to provide a drink of water when the players took a break.

Events like these always make me realize how very privileged children are in the part of society where I live.  There is not only bread, but cake when they sit down to dinner.  And the cake has icing.  And sprinkles.  At bedtime, there is a warm bath, comfy pajamas, and a bed with soft blankets, just right for dreaming.  There is breakfast in the morning and a warm coat, hat, and mittens to wear to school.  There is a feeling of security that only grows from knowing that their needs will be met, day after day; and there is the built-in opportunity to grow and develop when food and shelter and clothing are not in question.

How different might our world be if for each child that we indulge beyond needs and into wants, we would remember to contribute to the basic care of another child?  Each morning, when I walk my grand-dog, we meet up with a young woman and her dog for a frolic at the park.  Michele teaches at one of our local elementary schools, one that falls in the area where four-year-olds  join basketball leagues; but that doesn’t mean she forgets about the kids whose lives are less predictable.  On a recent morning, she told me about an effort in her school community to collect the outgrown clothing from overstocked closets and set up a clothing closet in an inner-city school nearby.  Such programs have existed within our own district for years, but the innovative staff at this school have taken time to raise awareness and meet the needs of kids whose lives go from job to job, paycheck to paycheck, or require the funding of social services.

Even those who bristle at paying taxes to support the unemployed need to wake up and see the children whose lives are affected by circumstances that are not of their making.  We need to remember that the school lunch program, which provides a free meal for kids who cannot afford to pay, only does its job when school is in session.  When our children celebrate a snow day, there are others who dread the thought of going hungry with school closed.  We must support the food banks that deliver basic nourishment to families who struggle to feed their children.  We must stop relying on the government to distribute our taxes and meet the needs of our children.  Their future is now.  Find the organizations that are on the front lines and support them.  Consider taking your senior citizen discount and donating it to a place where children are being taught the things they need to know in order to be productive adults.  The children belong to us all — they are our future.

Our children cannot wait.