By Charles McClure
news@ltview.com
Whether you despise the notion of spending for stimulus, or whether you’re head over heels in love with Barrack Obama, I would like to ask you to stop for a moment and see the bigger picture.

This nation is in a very serious crisis. People are losing their jobs at a rate not seen in at least 40 years — and probably longer. Forget the blame game and open up your heart for a moment.
I have watched as this national crisis has grown to distressing proportions. Local social service organizations like Lake Travis Crisis Ministries and Helping Hands are increasingly overwhelmed by the needs of your neighbors.
Millions upon millions of people are hurting right now. It isn’t just day laborers — I have personally spoken with more than a dozen Lake Travis area white collar workers who have lost their jobs in the last two weeks alone.
At first, I felt helpless. But I could stand it no more when confronted by a woman with breast cancer that could not — and still cannot — find a place to lay her head. She isn’t alone. According to Lake Travis Crisis Ministries President Dabney Cauley, his organization has money to purchase food, but has little to give for those who need help with electricity, rent, or even more pressing problems. At Briarcliff’s Helping Hands, founder Robert Woods needs food and cash donations.
This is not a joke, nor is it political rhetoric, but the stark reality of the situation our nation suddenly finds itself in. I don’t care how we got here. I am rolling up my sleeves and getting to work. Having grown up on the knees of those who survived the Great Depression, the truth is that I have been too blessed to do otherwise. My family has never wanted for anything — even in those darkest of days.
I would submit that we get what we give and we give it for free. I would encourage our local churches to double up their efforts, and implore my friends and fellow citizens to break out their wallets. It is my observation that our local social network is in need of improved group to group communication, better organization and much more money.
What we owe our nation are deeds. The sacrifices of all those who died to defend this land deserve nothing less.
Food can be donated at the Lake Travis Crisis Ministries headquarters in the Liberty Center Shopping Center, the second storefront on the right, 109 RR 620, Suite 112, on Wednesday afternoons from 5:30-7:30 p.m., or on Thursday mornings from 10 a.m.-noon. Money can be donated by mailing a check in care of Lake Travis Crisis Ministries and send it to 109 RR 620 South, Suite 112, Austin, Texas, 78734. Call 266-9810, and leave a message. To donate to Helping Hands, either drop off food at on Tuesdays at the PPOA between 4-6 p.m., or mail a check in care of Helping Hands, at 2506 Bee Creek Road, Spicewood, Texas, 78669. For more information, call 964-9822.