The Givers and the Takers

Columbia Community Care organized another toy drive and family giveaway event this year.

Toys for Tots Howard County has completed yet another year of providing toys to children in the community who might otherwise go without.

Free Bikes 4 Kidz has finished another season of bike restoration and giving.

Image from Free Bikes 4 Kidz social media

There’s a whole lot of good going in in Howard County year-round but it does seem as though the time around the December holidays is awash in charitable ventures, doesn’t it?

And then there’s this:

Ellicott City woman embezzled $1M, used funds for Taylor Swift tickets, luxury items, JT Moodee Lockman, WJZ/Baltimore Banner

According to her guilty plea, Jennifer Tinker, 41, defrauded the real estate agency that she worked for by transferring over $1 million of company funds to her personal bank accounts between January 2020 and November 2023, officials said.

I just don’t get it. Many of us wish for more money from time to time. I routinely wish I could win the lottery so I could become a professional philanthropist. And I wouldn’t mind a few splurges for myself, let’s be honest here. But I’m having trouble wrapping my brain around this story. This crime had to be imagined, planned, and executed over a period of time. It meant putting her employment at risk and lying to her coworkers. And it took skill.

Why do people do that?

Maybe it’s reading this story at this particular time of year that amplifies its egregiousness. I am often in awe of the energy and dedication of those in our community who give of themselves to help others. I dare not hold myself up against their good works because I know how clearly I would fall short.

Well, at least I’m not embezzling a million dollars to spend on myself, I guess.

There’s a vast expanse between Columbia Community Care, Toys for Tots, and Free Bikes 4 Kidz and the real estate employee who embezzled company funds. I’d hazard a guess that most of us fall in there someplace. We are neither living saints nor outright criminals. Sometimes we lead, sometimes we help, sometimes we forget or let other things get in the way.

What motivates people to give? To take? To build? To tear down?

Do you think our community has more givers or takers?

That’s a lot to think about for a Tuesday in December.

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