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OPINION&EDITORIAL
Views expressed in Opinion & Editorial do not necessarily reflect the views of The Coast News.
THE COAST NEWS
DEC. 11, 2009
Been around the world, ready to die in C’bad There’s an old woman on the corner wrapped in a thin blanket emblazoned with an American flag, and it’s late. She’s tossing and turning, mumbling something about India and Budapest; about Persia and how she just barely got away. I listen to her ramblings for a second, then nudge her gently with my shoe. “Don’t you think you should move?” I kindly ask. “How about sleeping across the street behind the office building?” She has chosen a terrible street corner to set up camp, and I tell her this over and over again. It’s exposed. Carlsbad police cruise by regularly — in fact, there goes one right now. The drunks will go nuts and beat or harass her for fun. “I’m aware of all that,” she said. “Now get lost.” But I don’t. Something tells me if I’m persistent, she’ll move. I ask if she needs anything — water or an extra blanket. She breathes a deep, frustrated sigh. “Didn’t I tell you to get lost?” she barks. Why I’m so concerned about this poor soul, I haven’t a clue. She tells me she has small pox and pneumonia, and this could be the truth or her lone defense. I’m not certain, so I instinctually take a step back, feeling rude for doing so. She seems to enjoy the intended effect. Sensing that I won’t stop bugging her, she emerges from her cocoon, fishing for a smashed soft pack of smokes. Her dirty blue sweatshirt bears the words “Best Grandma Ever.” She has trouble with the lighter, but puffs hard on the cigarette when it’s lit, inhaling and exhal-
ERIC MURTAUGH Outside Perspective ing quickly until the ember hits the filter just in time to light another. I never get a glimpse of her full face, just the deep wrinkles along her neck and rough patches around her chin. Her voice sounds like a bullfrog that’s been smoking for 100 years. “You know, I was young and adventurous once,” she croaks. “I shouldn’t have left India, so vast and beautiful and … ” but she trails off. She said she’s been around the world, having worked in a mine under dangerous conditions and even experienced a war. She’s seen it all. I inquire about what happened in India, the gallingly curious sociologist/journalist coming out in me. She waves the question off with a flick of the wrist, and I notice her arm is broken or badly sprained. I almost gag. It’s twisted and swollen, black and purple all over. I ask if she needs medical attention, but she politely refuses. How does she deal with the pain? She said she was raped in the park the other night by a big, powerful man, so the “arm thing” is really no big deal at the moment. She’ll get it looked at when she’s ready. And just as abruptly as she came out of hiding to smoke, she turns in for the evening. She TURN TO OUTSIDE ON A26
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You can help the community of Carlsbad By Yvonne Murchison Finocchiaro CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD CARLSBAD CHARITABLE FOUNDATION
Bombarded. At this time of year, we are all bombarded with extra “noise.” The noise of the holidays — joyful noise, laughing children, feelings of good will, the noise of the holiday plays and music, the noise of the delivery trucks, the extra noise that impacts one’s own thoughts. It is to those thoughts that I offer the following quote: “If you’re scared, just holler and you’ll find it ain’t so lonesome out there,” Joe Sudgen in “Joe Garagiola, Baseball is a Funny Game.” This time of year often finds people lonely and fearful. That is the “noise” I would like to eliminate. One way to help eliminate that fearful noise is to offer one’s help to others and in that regard there are wonderful groups and organizations in your community
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that help ease those fears. Foundations help ease those fears. The premise of a community foundation is “we help our own.” In that regard I would like to invite you to join the foundation in your community. I volunteer my time as chairman of the board of the Carlsbad Charitable Foundation. In Carlsbad, our volunteer members and staff raise funds to take care of those in Carlsbad who need an extra effort. Although we are only 2.5 years old, we have successfully helped (a) all Carlsbad fifth-graders learn an economics curriculum; (b) all Carlsbad eighth-graders through the purchase of equipment and supplies for science projects; (c) needy Carlsbad senior citizens who require extra help with food and transportation; and (d) Carlsbad hospice professional staff members who are learning the important new techniques to identify and diagnose pain in patients. The Carlsbad Charitable Foundation is made up of people like you who hear the noise of the community and who choose to pool their financial contributions to make a greater productive result. The Carlsbad Charitable Foundation has been challenged to find 25 additional members by Dec. 31.Those 25 new members would be
able to pledge $1,000 per year for five years to assist their neighbors in Carlsbad. Half of each year’s contribution would be placed in a longterm, permanent endowment that will be used to assist Carlsbad for years to come.The remaining half of the donation is used for grant-making in the current fiscal year. Through the generous dollar-for-dollar matching grant opportunity offered to Carlsbad Charitable Foundation by the Leichtag Family Foundation, we invite you who live or work in Carlsbad to join the 125 current members who are positively affecting the “noise” of Carlsbad. We are attempting to answer the call of those who “holler.” We are trying to take care of our own. The Carlsbad Charitable Foundation is focused on Carlsbad. It is an affiliate of the San Diego Foundation, and other affiliates are also specific to their communities: Oceanside, Rancho Bernardo, 4S Ranch, Chula Vista and La Jolla. In this time of increased “noise,” please consider your longrange effort to answer the need: Join your local community foundation. Be the change you want to see! For further information, visit www.carlsbadcharitablefoundation.org, www.sdfoundation.org or e-mail john@sdfoundation.com.