Jellico Tennessee- Helping Hands

If you're reading this article, no matter where you live, I believe that you can relate to the situations that I am about to point out here. If you live in Jellico Tennessee you are probably seeing these situations on a daily basis. This is not to reflect a negative light on our town. These situations are happening everywhere, yet are much more obvious in small towns.

There are only a handful of jobs in this town, most of which are fast food services. For years we have been promised that more jobs will be made available, still there is nothing here. Our young people can look forward to graduating High School and having to leave town to find decent work. We either leave town, drive long distances each day or just settle with knowing that flipping burgers is about there is.

We are led to believe that businesses just do not want to operate in small towns. While this may be true to some extent, we also know that a business will go where people need jobs and are willing to work.

The population of Jellico Tennessee was 2,355 at the 2010 census. This means that we have over 2,000 people needing jobs to pay bills and put food on their tables. Why are no jobs coming to this town? Frankly folks, some of us believe that they are being discouraged from opening their doors in our town. But why? This opens up a whole new can of worms for debate, we all have our thoughts and opinions and at the end of the day, none of them make much of a difference.

All across the United States and beyond, the rich will thrive and the poor will suffer in small towns. Another sad theory is that the more money and influence that one has, the more weight their opinions have. This conclusion means that most of the population is powerless to make much of a change.

OR ARE WE?

A few weeks ago, I was sitting in a local doctors office waiting to see the doctor myself. I noticed an older lady standing at the reception window. She was having trouble finding the money to pay for her bill which had apparently grown quite high. Although sympathetic, the receptionist was trying to explain how at least one payment needed to be made before they could schedule another appointment. The lady was growing more frantic by the moment, pleading her case of how she had to pay for her medication otherwise another appointment was pointless. I felt ashamed to be overhearing this conversation but at the same time it was unavoidable.

This lady was not eligible for payment relief options (as I overheard). She had no health insurance and her bill had reached a point that seeing the doctor again without a pre-payment was also not going to be an option. With tears in her eyes she held up a sales receipt showing that her monthly medication was costing over $600.00 a month. "I have rent, I have bills, I need food, I'll die without my medicine, there's just no more money!" she confessed. I felt as if I was going to melt right into the floor as I watched her walk away hopeless.

As I left the office, I inquired about the lady that had been there prior and paid her monthly bill anonymously. I watched as the receptionist prepared an appointment card that was going to be mailed to the lady later that day. It was a small gesture, but it felt so good to know that I had helped someone who needed it.

I ask you, if you can please help someone else. More than ever we need each other right now. The money that we have in our pocket, no matter how much or how little, it can't go with us when we leave this world. Help someone out if you can. You'll be amazed at how good it actually feels and what a difference the smallest gesture of kindness will mean to someone else.

Ways to help someone and brighten their day.

- Offer to pay for someone's groceries. I know that not everyone is able to do this. However, if the person in front of you has a small portion of needed items, why not offer a helping hand. By needed items I mean food, milk, toilet paper etc. If you can't take on the entire bill, you can hand them a few dollars and offer to help ease their burden.

- If you have left overs after dinner, why not check in with your neighbor and see if they'd like to share some dinner with you. This is a thoughtful and kind gesture that will cost you nothing and yet could be just what someone else needs.

- Is your closet full of items that you no longer use? Why not bag them up and sit them on the curb with a sign saying "Free clothes" you'll be surprised how fast someone will grab them. You can also rest in knowing that whoever is willing to stop and pick them up, most likely really needs them.

- My children always enjoyed carrying a hot cup of coffee outside and giving it to the garbage pick up men. On cold mornings they really appreciate this. My wife always had foam cups with lids sitting next to the coffee pot for this reason.

- If you have a pantry full of canned food that's piling up. Why not bag some of it up and offer it to a friend or neighbor. Just explain that you have accumulated way too much and wanted to share some of it.

- Like all towns, Jellico has a few homeless people. Why not make a cheap yet thoughtful goodie bag for them. Some chap stick, cookies, socks, canned drinks etc.

It doesn't cost much to be a good human being. We can help each other if we're willing. Let's prove how wonderful of a town that Jellico truly is and extend our helping hands outward to one another.