Many or most of you will have received or are about to receive a stimulus check from the U.S. government to stimulate our economy and, more importantly, to aid those who are still struggling through this pandemic. If you fall into this category, this check is for you – use it! Take it as a vote of confidence in your small but significant contribution to the common good and spend it on things that matter.

But if you do not fall into this category – if you still have your job, if you have no major medical bills, if the COVID-virus has not significantly altered your income or lifestyle – then may I offer an alternative: give it away! On a practical level, these funds are intended to be infused into the market now; if they are being put away in investment accounts or cash reserves, we are really defeating the purpose. But on a personal level, I know many of you are looking for ways to bless your community and you know that just padding your bank account doesn’t do that.

Give it away to where you think it might do the best good. But if you don’t know where that might be, I have a humble suggestion. The local schools have staff that work with families of students. They know that if a student comes to school underfed, troubled, and/or burdened at home, their chances of succeeding at school fall significantly. These staffpeople help connect those families with social service resources so they don’t fall through the cracks.

Last week, I asked one such staffperson what the greatest need is among families of their students: food? Medical help? Job training? No, she said the greatest need is rental assistance. I said, doesn’t the DHHS (Dept. of Health & Human Services) help with this? She said yes but they’re out of money. I thought, that’s not nickel and dime sort of stuff – that’s big money. But then I thought, yes, well, it’s big money that is being doled out in stimulus checks. See where I’m going with this?

If you would like to donate your stimulus check, or a portion thereof, to rental assistance for a struggling family in the greater Germantown area with school students, as assessed and vetted by the very competent MCPS special services staff, send it to GGCPaypal@gmail.com and I will make sure it gets into the right hands. All of it. And if you want to share about why you gave, comment below.

Let’s together help see our community through this pandemic.