Get Some to Give Some

by Vanessa Vega

I recently went to Family Day in the Park, an event held in Stockton, to interview Stockton residents to see what their thoughts were about the SEED project.

To begin with not many people were informed of what SEED was, let alone that Stockton was chosen as one of the cities that would participate. After giving them a quick summary of what it was, I listened to the responses.

Although some people were excited that Stockton was chosen for this project, not everyone could see how, 100 people given money would impact the community as a whole. Some people even went on to say that the winners owed it to the community to give back in some way.

Take Roman for example, when asked if he were given 500 extra dollars a month, his response was to give back.

Roman: “Well maybe donate to some worthy causes that are here in Stockton, maybe some resources with food and clothing. Maybe food, different organizations, churches. Maybe a good idea might as well, you know what I mean?”

After asking him about he thinks the impact of the SEED project will be on the community, he stops to think, before saying.

Roman: “Well there should be some type of giving back to the community or something, some type of attitude or being grateful, and maybe invest, or not invest, but you know make purchases in store that are family owned. If all these people aren’t ungrateful and greedy, then that they should do something in that aspect, I mean who wouldn’t?”

He mentions the words greedy and needing to be grateful. While some would argue that donating is a great things for both individuals, and a community.

The reality is, the extra money that these Stockton residents will receive, the majority will not be disposable income, meaning donating and investing will not be at the top of their lists.

Although it is impossible to say SEED will change everybody’s life, the idea behind this research project is to see how it affects the community, and hopeful to have a positive overall impact. However this is still up for debate, and we will see starting January of 2019.