Our communities step up for those in need

My thoughts while running: 

I remember being in the old RMHS gym in Byron more than 30 years ago during a halftime raffle. I recall who the fundraiser was for, only that someone needed a hand. A young girl walked out on the floor with a plate of cookies.

The bidding started at five dollars, then ten, then fifteen, and before long somebody yelled, “A hundred!” Another voice came right back with, “One-twenty!” It ended when both bidders agreed to pay a hundred each and split the cookies.

That was the night I realized I’d moved to a very different kind of place.

Around here, when someone’s in trouble, we don’t hold a meeting about it, we just get to work. In the last few weeks alone, people have stepped up for Mandie Asay, Stormy Jameson and the Lovell-Kane Museum. No matter who it’s for or what it’s about, the same thing happens every time: folks show up, dig deep and somehow make it happen.

We help baseball teams, wrestlers headed to Australia, and 4-H kids with their projects. We bring casseroles when babies are born and more casseroles when loved ones pass. We set up tables and chairs and then take them down when the crowd goes home. We drive people to cancer treatments, mow lawns, haul hay, help people move in and then help them move out. We serve popcorn at the theater, sort cans at the food pantry and lend tools and time whenever it’s needed.

One of my favorite moments came at the Big Horn County Fair when someone bid a hundred dollars for a prize-winning rabbit, then handed it right back to the young lady who raised it. That’s just how folks around here do things.

Over the years, I’ve seen fundraisers for Lily, Macey, Laramie, Dacean, Jared, Dylan, Aavah, Alexis, Billy and many more. We’ve held chili dinners, pink games, bake sales, golf tournaments, car washes and fun runs. 

In our towns we buy T-shirts we’ll never wear, raffle tickets we hope we don’t win and donuts we shouldn’t eat the whole box of (but have). We’ve given to leukemia, cystic fibrosis, autism, Alzheimer’s, fire victims and more causes than I can count.

And behind every event are the unsung heroes, the ones making calls, washing dishes, setting up sound systems and cleaning up long after everyone’s gone home. They give something often more valuable than money: time.

If you’re the one who needs a little help right now, please tell a friend. Around here, folks can’t pitch in if they don’t know. Asking can be hard, but that’s part of what being neighbors means, and when you’re back on your feet, you’ll get your turn to pass it along.

With all the craziness today, I can’t help but think the world could use a little more of what happens right here in our towns -- people looking out for each other, lending a hand without being asked and believing that, when one person hurts, the whole community shows up to help carry the load.