Never, it seems, has there been such desperate times financially, especially for those who rely on Wall Street to reach their goals in life, including retirement.

The greed and mismanagement seems a hallmark of some our nation’s financiers and bankers, yet some are taking with them as they’re booted out the door a very handsome golden parachute.

Their safety net seems assured. That’s not the case for those in the Renton area who need the help of all of us for such basic needs as food and shelter. Or for those who are victims of some of the worst kinds of crime, sexual assault.

Mary Ellen Stone, executive director of the King County Sexual Assault Resource Center, in a story in Saturday’s Renton Reporter spoke passionately about the potential loss of the human-services safety net in King County. The county is facing massive budget cuts, many of which could – or will – shred the safety net that halts the fall of so many.

Just as eloquently, in an earlier story in the Renton Reporter, Heidi Lawless, a single mom, spoke of the support she has received from the health department’s Renton Health Center to help raise her four children. Public Health’s budget faces major cuts, too.

And those who attended the recent auction to benefit Vision House heard from a mom who reported how that great nonprofit in the Highlands proved critical to getting her life turned around. She’s one of the reasons Vision House has a 100-percent success rate.

Vision House is feeling the economic pinch – the builders who have donated so generously to building Vision House facilities are seeing their homes go unsold and are finding their ability to help curtailed as well.

And there’s the Salvation Army Renton Rotary Food Bank, whose shelves desperately need restocking. People need to eat year-around, not just at the holidays.

So, a shaken economy couldn’t have come at a worse time – the holiday season – when many nonprofits bank on the generosity of their donors. Still, the need knows no season, as the Salvation Army reminds us.

Please, despite the hardships we all face, find something extra in your bank accounts or on your shelves to help those agencies who help those in need. There are those in Renton and throughout the state who are in worse shape financially than you or me.

Thanks.