An important message from Kathy Wheeler,

Family Giving Tree host coordinatorfor Cadence Design, Inc.

        Over the last 30 days or so, I've watched several television shows like Three Wishes, Extreme Makeover and Dr. Phil just to name a few, heap lavish attention, gifts, toys, and trips to Disneyland, etc on kids and families who've suffered through the horrendous impact of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Lots of retailers, airlines and other consumer-hungry companies are participating in the programs - great advertising, right? I know that these are all great causes but I am concerned about the real unmet needs in our own community, especially around this holiday season.

        Don't get me wrong, I can only imagine the hardship and difficulties these families faced over the last 4 months. Employees from my company have gone out to the gulf coast and volunteered their time to help with recovery -- they've shared their stories and pictures of the devastation with me. It is heartbreaking. However, let’s not forget, we have kids and families in our own community who face hardship on a daily basis. You only have to open your eyes to see we have kids and families who are homeless or seriously strapped financially, and don't know when their next meal will come or from where. And it isn’t just here in Silicon Valley. This very same situation exists in every community in America.

        Nearly everyday for the past few weeks it has been reported that the food drive, the toy drives, donations in general are a fraction of what they were a year ago. Families in our community, who are hoping for one toy or one meal they can count on, will simply have to go without. I was at the Family Giving Tree warehouse yesterday and saw a paltry number of gifts as compared to years prior when the place was piled high. And this is the year that they needed 5,000 more gifts than last year just to meet community needs. Local food bank, Second Harvest is only at 25% of their food drive goal. It's very sad.

        Who knew when the tsunami hit that a few months later we would face our own devastating natural disaster on the gulf coast, and then another international disaster with the earthquake in Pakistan. The Hollywood stars came out in force to raise and donate big bucks to help; individuals and corporations gave and gave and gave... Now, with seemingly no more to give, our own community is hurting, big time.

        So when I see the television shows picking families (how do some get picked over others anyway?) and lavishing so much on a few it seems like overkill. Why can't Hollywood stars raise money or give to programs that serve the kids and families who need help everyday? Individuals and corporations should do the same (if they don't already). I know it isn't as "sexy" as giving to the disaster du jour -- but disasters are going to continue happening – we all know an earthquake could happen anytime in California.

        Of course, we should help whenever disaster strikes (but in a balanced way), however we can’t turn our backs on our own communities – somehow we have to go the extra mile to help. So skip that latte tomorrow, dig a little deeper in your pocket.  You may not be a celebrity but you can help families right in your own community and that is real star power.

Kathy Wheeler

Senior Manager

Global Community Involvement

Cadence Design Systems, Inc