I volunteered at the holiday gift shop at my daughter’s school this morning. My job was to help the 1st graders and 3rd graders who came to the shop to buy gifts for their relatives and friends. Everything is priced between .25 cents and $5.00, with most gifts being in the $1 to $2 range. They are cute little things, mainly ways to express gratitude to mothers, fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers, brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews. Most kids arrive with a budget of about $10 and a list of 5 or 6 family members. One little girl had only a dollar. She had no list. It was not clear why. So she wanted to buy something for her mother, but all the things she picked out were $2 and $3. Finally, she settled on a $1 gift. She asked about whether she could get something for her sister. She picked up a necklace and said, “My mom would love this so much.”

I felt bad. But there was nothing I could do. It would not be right to give her the money. I didn’t know why she did not come with an envelope or money. Maybe she doesn’t celebrate a winter holiday (unlikely, but possible). Maybe her mother or father couldn’t read and so didn’t know how to help her fill out the list (unlikely, but possible). Maybe the envelope got buried under some other things at home because Mom and/or Dad are both working lots of hours and don’t check her notices every day when she comes home (seems more likely). Or maybe her family just didn’t have the money.

There is no way to know, but the episode served as a strong reminder to me of how much we all want to give. Everyone wants to give back. It’s evident in my toddler who brings her doll everywhere and tries to help with kitchen activities. It’s evident in the child at the school holiday gift shop who wants to buy presents for all the people in her family, but who does not have the money to do it.

If we take as a metaphor for well-being the desire of children to give gifts, to give back to the people who provide for them, then what of the plans for the state to cut off health insurance for 20,000 low income families, including children, in the state? It strikes me as a sad omen — another way in which we will take away our collective power to give. Many of these children and families will go without health insurance, or will pay for it with a large portion of their income. These are the same families who perhaps struggle to come up with the extra $10 to give to their 6-year-old so she can go to the school’s holiday gift shop and buy something to give back to the people who love and nurture her.

Today at noon, a group of Rhode Island business, health care, and community leaders came together to express opposition to the proposals to cut health care. I wasn’t there in body but I was certainly there in spirit. From the health care organizing project:

Community, Business and Health Care Leaders Will Stand Together Against Proposal to Cut Nearly 20,000 from RIte Care

The broad-based group of leaders will outline why the proposal is financially short-sighted, and harmful to the people of the state.

On Wednesday, December 12th at Noon, leaders from business, health, faith, education and the advocacy community will gather at the Capital Hill Health Center, 40 Candice Street, Providence to respond to the budget request sent from the Department of Human Services to the Governor that would exclude nearly 20,000 children and parents from the state’s RIte Care program.

Dawn Wardyga, Director of Family Voices at the RI Parent Information Network, states “We’ll respond to this outrageous proposal to warn Rhode Islanders about the unacceptable economic and human cost this type of wholesale attack on RIte Care will have on our state. There are real solutions on the table that this proposal ignores. The truth is we have seven months ahead to impact state budget decisions and must all work together to demand more responsible, long-term solutions for the people of Rhode Island.�

What: A press conference in response to the Department of Human Services budget request to the Governor

Where: Capital Hill Health Center, 40 Candice Street, Providence

When: Wednesday, December 12, 2007 at Noon.

Speakers Will Include:

Merrill Thomas, Executive Director, Providence Community Health Centers

Barbara Torres, Parent of kids enrolled in RIte Care – three with special needs

Ted Almon, President, The Claflin Company, E. Providence

Andy Snyder member of the RI Medical Society and of the American Academy of Pediatrics

Donna Paolicastro, Executive Director, RI State Nurses Association

Dawn Wardyga, Director of Family Voices at the RI Parent Information Network

Ann Marie O’Hagan, Parent of kids enrolled in RIte Care

Lucie Burdick, President, SEIU Local 580