A DAD'S LIFE:People no longer have the cash to spare for charities
WE ALL know the world has changed since 2007. Finding exact yardsticks against which to measure our experience of the change is difficult though. Statistically it’s easy enough: house prices have crashed, jobs have gone, salaries have fallen and yet the cost of living has remained about the same.
There is a definite awareness that we have no security blanket, that we can’t afford to be flippant with our cash, but it’s human nature to adapt so, as we come to terms with one reality, it’s difficult to remember the perceived comfort of the last.
I’ve recently had cause to compare the two. In 2007 I ran the New York marathon for Our Lady’s Hospital, Crumlin. I had a specific target set, went out, organised a fundraising event, but got more than I needed from nagging people into submission. On one occasion an old school friend admitted over dinner he had just flogged his Aston Martin DB9 and was beaming about the price. I stuck out the paw and demanded some of that cash. Another generous buddy cornered me because his business was doing so well he had, for the first time, earmarked a wedge for charity.
It may sound like I was hobnobbing with Bono and JP McManus, but no, these were kinda regular guys, in so much as kinda regular guys have DB9s and their own advertising agencies. My point is, they were regular guys who found themselves in irregular – and surprisingly profitable – situations.
On November 7th this year I’m running the New York marathon again, but this time raising funds for the heart charity, Croí. This time there are no DB9s or dividends to take advantage of, and like the regular guys who find themselves in straitened circumstances, charities are struggling to maintain funds.
From the fundraiser’s perspective there seems to be two reasons for this. First and most obviously, there is less cash in people’s pockets. They may want to donate but simply can’t spare the funds. The second reason appears to be donor fatigue.
We have begged and badgered each other to contribute to a variety of worthy organisations over the past number of years, but often under the pretence of not doing a whole lot. For a while we were willing to overlook the lack of effort on the fundraiser’s behalf and give anyway. Now when someone asks for sponsorship because they’re spending Sunday afternoon flying kites on Dollymount Strand we tend to feel a little miffed. Donor fatigue has a trickledown effect. When I say I’ll be running the marathon in New York, I get suspicious eyes and accusations of attempts to cadge free holidays.
If that was ever the case, it isn’t anymore. All fundraisers kick in a lump sum at the start, which pretty much covers costs before we begin to plead with people to part with money.
I chose Croí because targeting the prevention of heart disease through education is a large part of its programme. This starts with education about diet. Because we adopt our eating habits as children, in reality they are handed to us by our parents. Looking back on my own childhood, the mam put healthy and varied foods on our dining table and, as a result, the whole family still runs on reasonably low-cholesterol arteries.
Since having kids myself though, I’ve discovered how difficult that is to do. The temptation to throw up salt-laden, ready-made meals, sugary snacks and fizzy drinks can be overwhelming, especially when the kids have a bloodlust for tins of macaroni cheese. Who wants to spend an hour at the dinner table encouraging vegetables down throats when a couple of singles of chips would be savaged?
But the result of the sugar/salt diet is lacklustre, obese kids reliant on an overstretched health service when their heart problems emerge down the line. Croí, as well as supporting those with existing heart issues, attacks the problem at its source, where we learn our fatty eating habits as kids, and attempts to provide alternatives.
This, my fourth, may be my last marathon. They don’t get easier and already, this far from it, I am feeling the fear at the pain that inevitably comes between miles 20 and 26. I am the wrong shape for pounding roads and, in truth, a bit too soft.
If anyone would like to contribute to my effort, you can do so directly at mycharity.ie/event/adamsrun
abrophy@irishtimes.com