Making Dilemmonade out of a Dilemma (Pt.3 of 7)

Now, the problem wasn’t the numbers, so much as the fact that the leaders of every nonprofit were looking to the members of the forest community to support their helpful intentions. Everyone had seen how Fleur had benefited by being the executive director for Helping Paw, which got its support for her salary and all her programs for the animals from the contributions of all the community members. So now everyone wanted to get on the gravy train.

The community, however, was getting a little restive with this concept. Around the edges one could hear candid and sometimes even snide remarks to the effect that they were tired of shelling out acorns every month to one group after another. There were only just so many animals in the forest, and even if everyone gave their utmost to help everyone else, there just weren’t enough resources to make it possible for every animal who wanted a better life to start up a nonprofit and get what he or she wanted in that better life from the generosity of others.

Not that anyone would have begrudged anybody’s getting ahead in life. Throughout time all the animals had felt kindly towards one another and the idea of mutual assistance, banding together to accomplish more of a community feeling had grown in popularity. But the question remained, where were the resources going to come from to make everyone’s personal dreams of a better life come true?

The situation wasn’t yet dire, and there had been some noticeable advantages and improvements in the forest. First, the results of all the good that the various charities had done really did contribute to better lives for many of the forest animals. But, second, there had been a noticeable increase in certain kinds of benefits emanating from the fundraising efforts of the various nonprofits.

For example, the badgers, opossums, foxes, ferrets and field mice had never had so much fun! They had a Schmooseball tournament going on nearly every month – one of those fundraiser ideas someone had thought up to make fundraising more fun. The deer, elk, horses and moose were regularly involved in rutting contests that paid off handsomely in rewards for the winners and the executives of the charities that put those on. And the flying crowd got involved in swooping and divebombing contests that were really fun and provided everyone with a spectacle on Saturday afternoons.

Additionally, a local community foundation had been set up with assets from the sale of the forest to a preservation group so that all the animals could apply for funds to help them out, and these new charities had been very timely in their applications for those resources, which filtered down to individuals within the forest as their needs developed.

So everyone was, for the most part, better off. But where was the limit? How long could this state of affairs continue? The resources of the animals and of the forest foundation were limited. That was why Governor What had called the Forest Council meeting to discuss the situation and find a creative solution.