By Danny Minton

The Paducah Sun, Paducah, Ky., November 31, 1926 (December 2, 1926): “Cousin Molly, dear frined:  I am a little girl of 12 years old, my sister is 8. My dady is dead and mama is a widow and is not able to work much. I am not expecting anything nice this Christmas. I will come to your Christmas tree, Cousin Molly. I would like a basket for my mother and some toys for me and my little sister. Yours very truly, – B.L.S.”

The Paducah Sun, Paducah, Ky., December 21, 1927: “Dear Cousin Molly: i am a little boy 10 years old i go to school and nned (sp) a coat and long pants to wear to school and I wish you would send me a basket of things, candes nuts and some toys for chrissmas i never ask you for nothing before but i have no mother to fix me nothing. my papa is criple and cant work much and i can make no money. eneny thing you can give me i will be glad of it. C.N.” (Spelling and mistakes are as children wrote these letters)

It was in the midst of the Great Depression and families everywhere were struggling to put food on the table and pay for living expenses, with little left for the extravagances of Christmas gifts. In Paducah, scores of children turned to Cousin Molly seeking anything she could do to help them and their families have even a little Christmas joy.

So, who was Cousin Molly, and what could she do to help so many disadvantaged children when the country was trying so desperately to keep families together and food on their tables? Her name was Olive Cummings Anderson. In 1925, Olive, a young widow, began a new column in the “Paducah Sun,” a newspaper of which her father had been circulation manager. It was a column dedicated to ways people could help others with food and clothing.

The thing that touched her heart the most was the letters that arrived from young children. It was those letters that tugged on her heart the most. She launched efforts to help the children during Christmas, and help them have some of the joy that so many had been missing in their lives during this time in American history. Over the following six years, working day and night, she became the Santa Claus to the children of Paducah through fundraisers and a special Christmas day at the Columbia theater, where hundreds of children crowded in for food, gifts, and fun. When she retired six years later, she had helped thousands of needy families and children make their way through the Great Depression. (Information taken from Jenny Ashcraft, Headlines in History, Newspapers.com)

When I read stories like this one, it reminds me of how rich most of us are in today’s world. Our children have so many toys that they can’t play with them all, and piles remain in a basket in the closet, many of which will never be played with again. Our tables are filled with food, and plates of leftovers are often scraped into the trash, good food, just too much for us to eat. Most of us have at least one car and many two or three. Our homes are heated in winter and cooled in the summer. We toss good clothes because we don’t like the style or are just tired of wearing them. At Christmas, we complain because we don’t like a particular gift. Our children get upset because they didn’t get what they wanted or because other children got one more gift than they did. The waste we produce in our country would likely be enough to feed and clothe hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children who have little or nothing. 

We live in a country where no one should go hungry or cold. During this time of the year, we see people stepping forward. Churches give away sacks of food. Holiday meals are provided, and giving trees are set up in both churches and public places. Contributions to help others are more freely given. Christmastime brings out the best in many people, filling hearts with that giving spirit. 

But what about the other eleven months of the year? While many programs run throughout the year, the spirit and drive of the holiday season quickly vanish. People still need to eat in those other months. They still get cold and need ways to keep warm. Jesus doesn’t want us just to help people during the holidays; he wants us to be there constantly when they fall on hard times. 

More should be done to support food banks, church pantries, service centers, Meals on Wheels, and other organizations that help people meet the basic needs of life. Let me repeat, no one should go hungry and cold when there is enough to go around for everyone.

Jesus put it this way, “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. ‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? ‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? ‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’ 

Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Matthew 25:34-46 (NASB)

Don’t throw the spirit of giving in the trash with the used wrapping paper. Instead, please find a way to use it repeatedly throughout the year. Remember Paul’s words, quoting from Jesus, “In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” Acts 20:35 (NASB) The world needs more Cousin Mollys working for Jesus.

Danny Minton, a member of Southern Hills Church of Christ, is a hospital chaplain