Bear-y Christmas

By: Dustin Beutin

Imagine that, as a child, you came downstairs on Christmas morning and there were no presents under the tree. Heck, there wasn’t even a tree. Just the same old boring living room - if you had one, that is. And no stockings on the chimney, and no garland on the mantel; not even cookies in the oven or candies on the counter.This isn’t a dream for many children: it’s the impending reality of this coming Christmas.

Poverty is rampant in the richest country in the world. American children will go to bed on Christmas Eve hungry, cold or lonely in what is perhaps the richest country in the history of mankind. Yet our values - especially the emerging value of the “corporation” as a living entity on par with the value of a human soul - continue to perpetuate a growing emotional blindness, allowing us to enjoy how much we have at the expense of helping those around us. And “luckily” for most of us, the gut-wrenching guilt brought on by the value of human kindness is easily rationalized away by telling ourselves that somehow these poor Americans brought their plight on themselves through laziness or ineptitude.

Criticizing the impoverished in society for their lack of success when the doors of opportunity - especially education, assistance and financial access - are slammed shut is the equivalent of blaming a legless man for being unable to walk. The real crime, though, is that the children of impoverished families are denied these opportunities, yet held accountable once they reach adulthood for their inability to seek meaningful, profitable employment in an economy driven by educational excellence and trained labor.

Hey, wait - I thought this was supposed to be a column about football… Don’t worry, it is.

This year, the Bears have done just about everything wrong on the field. They have committed the cardinal sin of assuming success in the current season based on prior glory. They have failed to take advantage of a Super Bowl “window,” through the release of key players and the retention of over-aged veterans. They have pinned their hopes on first round draft picks that have failed, been injured, or just simply can’t be counted on.

Through it all, they’ve broken the hearts of many a Chicagoan who expected the gift of this season to be at least a shiny new playoff run, probably a glimmering divisional championship, and maybe even a trip to Glendale, Arizona for an important February appointment.

The Bears have, however, done one thing exceptionally well this year; and they deserve much more credit than they have yet received. They have given time and effort towards providing aid to the Chicago community through donations, drives and more; all in an attempt to help Chicagoans who certainly can’t afford a press agent to highlight their struggles. Most of their efforts have been targeted towards providing opportunity and enjoyment to the neediest children in the city.

Money and gifts have been a portion of this effort. Just this week, the team held a shopping spree for 50 children from under-served communities, so that they could have gifts under their trees. If it doesn’t warm your heart to think of helping children enjoy a special day once a year, then you’re probably the Grinch. Sure, someone could say that the value of Christmas is in the lesson of giving, but for children who have so little, what more is there for them to give? It’s best they receive; and the Bears worked to insure that for a handful of kids, this Christmas will be a special day.

There’s also the coat drive that the Bears co-host every year. It’s not easy to go to school, to be involved in after-school sports, or to work a job without a suitable winter coat. Little is achievable when you’re struggling to maintain a basic human need. This valuable community project collects thousands of used coats - many of high quality - and donates them to children and adults alike, so that they have the opportunity to succeed in the cold winter months. Survival being on the most basic level of needs for a human, this is an exceptional campaign supported by the Bears organization.

As valuable as these monetary and material gifts are, the real work the Bears do every year is in the giving of time. Throughout this season and for countless years past, Bears players and coaches have taken time to give the greatest gift of opportunity possible to a child: a role model. Maybe you don’t know this, but Bears players - from the famous to the backups - have visited countless grade schools this season across Chicagoland, many of them in the poorest communities. The point of each visit has been to offer encouragement and a bit of fun to the children, but there is something more that these visits have provided: a chance to speak with a hero from a common or uncommon background.

Say what you will about the over the top hero culture associated with pro sports, the Bears have taken advantage of this status to give back to their community in a meaningful way. Poverty knows no color, geographic or demographic boundary - that pro football offers many successful role-models from all communities to speak with children gives children not only a chance to visualize themselves as successful, but motivation to surmount the incredible obstacles that stand in the way of their own achievement. When students are not just fighting complex algebra or the bully, but also hunger and sleeplessness, there is a grave need for accomplished adults to provide leadership in poor communities, and lend credibility to the hope that a child’s dreams can actually surmount these obstacles.

For the crowd that spends countless hours arguing that the impoverished need to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps, they should look no further than the effect that successful, prominent men and women can have when they spend time motivating children to achieve their best. Consider that in your own household, you most likely had (or have) an everyday role model; someone with either a college degree, or a successful career. To ignore the effect this had on you or currently has on your children - to see how an adult acts, works and behaves towards achieving goals, building financial stability and participating as a member of the workforce - is kidding yourself into believing that somehow your own or your children’s success occurred in a cultural vacuum.

Now, the Bears naturally don’t do this of their own accord. The NFL stipulates a certain level of community involvement, and the Bears tack on their own additions. By definition, the NFL and the Bears are corporations; as such, their goals are linked intrinsically to profit, as befits a successful business. The point here, though, is that regardless of the Bears’ motive or reasoning for involvement in the community, they are involved. The Bears have and still do require the employees of their company to be members in a fight to eliminate the obstacles that face children. Is the company you work for (or own) involved in raising up the community it exists within and profits from? Does it stipulate the use of company time to give back to the people from whom it takes so much?

By spending time and money in this fight, the Bears and other NFL teams provide a perfect example of how a business can profit from supporting its communities. In working to provide time and support to the local community, the Bears are able to generate positive vibes for their company. Can you honestly say that seeing Bears players in classrooms or seeing Bear-sponsored donation boxes around the stadium makes you less likely to support the guys in Blue and Orange? More than likely, you are encouraged to think of the Bears as a bunch of helpful, nice guys - and that emotional vibe probably makes you more inclined to buy tickets and merchandise, or otherwise financially support their company. Thus, by spending what amounts to a minimal amount of time and money for an organization as large as the Bears, they are able to not only give an incredible value to children throughout the city, but also increase their own bottom line. What’s not to like?

The dreams of children do not materialize from hope alone. They most certainly require an effort on the part of those who wish to attain them, and it is therefore critical that children (and adults) should be encouraged to work hard without expectations of a handout. This is only half of the equation, though - opportunity lies on the other side of hard work. Just as a child cannot be expected to climb a mountain alone in the face of blizzards, winds and sheer rock faces, so too must Chicago heed the call and offer an opportunity to reach the top. This is what the Bears do by involving themselves in spending time with children, and offering the occasional financial gift.

Chicago owes a large “thank you” to all of the Bears players, coaches, staff and owners who have given time and money this year to increase the chances of success for children all across the city. Most certainly there is a child somewhere in this city that has been inspired or aided by this enough to become a role model for someone else in the future, and that is an immeasurable gift.

Realize, though, that like all of the gifts under your tree this year, the gift of opportunity doesn’t appear without time and effort. You wouldn’t expect the Bears to spend the day at the mall finding the gifts for your Christmas shopping list; don’t expect them to bear the burden of raising the level of societal opportunity for children in the city by themselves, either.

Now, about some wins next year…

Though other sportswriters in Chicago might still be unpacking their carpetbags, Dustin Beutin is a born and bred Chi-town sportswriter. Heading into the heart of the Big Ten (Purdue) broadened his sports views, and it was during the Jauron era that he lost the innocence of blind love for Chicago sports and began looking for an outlet to vent his frustration. A trip out west to USC for a Master’s in writing was only tolerable with high doses of ESPN and Dodgers games, though it gave him a respect for the national perspective. Now in the early stages of a sports-writing career, Dustin hopes to give back to the city of Chicago everything it gave him: opinions and heartburn.

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