Young Sexy Politics

Update: Eatin’ Good in the ‘Hood was a success! Read more…

As I mentioned in a previous post, I spent a good portion of my Sunday watching football. But a few hours before that, I was sitting in church. My pastor (Russ) is like a mirror, in the sense that he’s awesome at showing everyone an accurate portrait of themselves. He’s been talking a lot about bettering our community lately, and Sunday was a punch in the gut. He made me realize that I haven’t been doing my part to make Denver a better place to live.

Being a Christian for me isn’t about asking strangers on the street “Do you know Jesus Christ?” Or guilt-tripping my friends into coming to church. Jesus didn’t do either of those things. He didn’t walk around telling people about himself, or annoying his friends. He just helped people. For me, that’s what it’s all about.

So, while listening Russ be very blunt with all of us, an idea was born. It dawned on me that Thanksgiving is coming up, and there are a lot of hungry families that won’t have a meal to celebrate. Last year, my wife and I fed a few families through our own efforts. But this year, we will use YSP resources to hopefully feed 25 families, in a program called “Eatin’ Good in the ‘Hood.”

If you’ve been a reader of YSP for awhile, you know how I feel about the private sector. I truly believe it can do almost anything better than the government. There are lots of government assistance programs for needy families, but still families without turkey. What’s the solution? More government programs? Hell no. I guarantee YSP and other private organizations, can do it better and cheaper.

Like I said, our goal is to feed 25 families. $40 is enough to provide each family with a FULL Thanksgiving dinner. That includes turkey, potatoes, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, rolls, gravy, etc. You know, all the stuff that makes Thanksgiving so special!

Many people don’t know the real story of Thanksgiving, due to some degree of censorship in textbooks. The real story comes from a manuscript called “Of Plymouth Plantation,” written by William Bradford over several years, from 1620 to 1647. It is really the only credible text we have, that describes the first Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving as we know it today, started in Plymouth Colony, located in modern-day Massachusetts. There were several “Thanksgivings,” prior to Pilgrims landing in Plymouth on the Mayflower, around 1620. In fact, the earliest recorded “Thanksgiving” took place in modern-day Florida, around 1565. I put them in parenthesis, because the Thanksgiving we celebrate today, derived from the Thanksgiving of 1623, NOT 1621 as many textbooks purport. It is true; Pilgrims and natives shared a meal, celebrating the harvest in 1621. However, that was simply English custom. It was not a Thanksgiving observance, as it was not a celebration of thanks to God. It was in celebration of their first harvest, which was very small.

The reason it was so small, is because of something called the “Plymouth experiment.” This was America’s first attempt at socialism. Basically, when the Pilgrims first arrived, Plymouth was a commune. William Bradford talks about this extensively in “Of Plymouth Plantation.” He describes a system in which Pilgrims would farm and harvest, to contribute to the community. Everything produced would go into a communal stockpile. Then, as members of the community needed things, they would just take them from the stockpile. This went on for about two years.

After Bradford was elected Governor of Plymouth Colony, he decided the commune system wasn’t working. Why would it? Human nature is to sit back and let “someone else” do the work, unless there is an incentive to act otherwise. That’s exactly what happened in Plymouth. People don’t like being FORCED to contribute. So Bradford, along with other influential members of the community, decided to abandon their system of socialism. They decided that each Pilgrim would farm and harvest, only to keep everything he produced. Ahh… American capitalism was born.

By 1623, there was such abundance in Plymouth that the Pilgrims decided to celebrate, by giving thanks to God. This is where Thanksgiving actually comes from. It was a celebration of capitalism and private enterprise, which spawned goodwill and a spirit of charity. See the difference? People like to give on their own accord. Not because a government forces them to.

Most of us will have a Thanksgiving this year. Despite a poor economy, we will be able to celebrate abundance, with friends and family. But many families are not as fortunate. The rise in unemployment, has taken a devastating toll on them. Let’s celebrate Thanksgiving William Bradford style, put the private sector to work, and solve this problem!

Here’s how it works:

-Your donations are not tax deductible, because YSP is not a 501(c)(3). Sorry. We hate taxes too, but we don’t want to pull an “ACORN.”

-YSP is all about government accountability, so we apply the same standard to ourselves. After Thanksgiving, we will post the financial records of “Eatin’ Good in the ‘Hood.” We will not disclose donor information, but we will tell you where the money went. Oh… and we’ll show you, by posting photos of all the happy families!

-Every single penny will go towards feeding hungry families. We are not charging any overhead whatsoever for this program.

-We hope to feed 25 families, at $40 each. That means we need $1,000.