Opinion | A Thanksgiving challenge

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As families across America gather to celebrate Thanksgiving, neighborly generosity is needed more than ever. For too many, the holiday comes at a time of increasing instability and overwhelming uncertainty.

Understanding this reality can help you also understand the urgent need for increased generosity. As we prepare to gather around the dinner table, there is a growing gap between the economic story we hear and what families are experiencing. While the stock market soars, people are working long hours and are one medical emergency or car breakdown away from a financial crisis. CEOs tout historic profits, while 42 million Americans suffered the uncertainty of losing critical SNAP benefits. Recent federal rules cut supportive housing funding by more than 85%, putting hundreds of thousands of Americans who recently secured homes at immediate risk of losing them.

We are increasingly living in two Americas: One where economic talking heads tout GDP growth, and another where families are quietly struggling in ways that are easy to overlook. From rural to urban communities, people who seem to be doing “fine” from the outside may be rationing groceries or juggling impossible choices about whether to eat or pay for insulin or rent. Hunger is not always visible, but it is happening all around us.

It is hard to understand what that pain and anxiety feel like unless you’ve lived them yourself.

We both grew up in households where poverty and personal responsibility shaped our upbringing, although in very different ways.

And even while we or our loved ones received support, both of our families also gave what we could. They allowed neighbors whose heat had been turned off to spend the night. They organized their communities to advocate for their needs. They established a charitable family foundation that turned its own abundance into a nearly 75-year legacy of service to communities around the world. As we saw people show up for our families and recognized our own privilege, we also understood and felt the responsibility we have to carry it forward.

This is part of the American common story of generosity — a critical tenet of our society passed from generation to generation.

We must reinvigorate that spirit of generosity while also working tirelessly to fix the systems that have failed too many people, because our stories and those of millions of others are not about personal failure — they’re about gaps in support during difficult moments.

As leaders at McKnight Foundation, we are stepping up to meet the moment. McKnight is committing $1 million in food and direct assistance grants to help families experience greater stability. These grants will support 14 organizations that know their communities well and can stretch every dollar to do the most good, by helping families put food on the table, keep the heat and the lights on, and get to work safely.

In times like these, philanthropy has often stepped up to address urgent community needs. That spirit comes from our roots. Virginia McKnight Binger, the daughter of our founders, helped shape McKnight into a foundation deeply connected to the community. She helped launch the six Minnesota Initiative Foundations in response to the farm and economic crisis of the 1980s. Next year marks 40 years of these locally led organizations, which have leveraged nearly $1 billion in investments in rural Minnesota. Her approach was grounded in humility, proximity and partnership. These qualities still define what it means to be a good neighbor — and also what undergird true generosity.

So this holiday season, we are offering a simple challenge: Donate to your local food shelf. Volunteer at a meal program. Check in on a neighbor who might be struggling. Donate to nonprofits providing direct support to neighbors in need. And encourage at least two other people in your life to do the same and pass along the challenge to others.

And for those who can, like our fellow charitable foundations, corporations and individuals with the means, now is the time to do even more. Acts of generosity, large and small, can be multiplied and add up to something powerful, sending a message that no one has to face hunger or hardship alone. We invite you to join us — not only in this holiday challenge, but also in staying engaged to advocate for solutions that ensure all Americans have what they need to live safe, stable lives every day of the year.

Together, we can show one another what being a good neighbor truly looks like.