Over the weekend I worked at our local food pantry. A little before we closed for the day, a guy walked in and gave a check to the woman who handles everyone who comes in the door.
This happens fairly frequently. People don’t ask that their names be written down. They don’t want accolades. They come in and give us money so we can continue to serve food to needy people in the area about 30 miles west of Milwaukee. You’d think things are okay out here, and for the most part that’s true.
But spending time putting together food packages for those in need surprises you. You see young families, single men and women, middle-aged women bringing their mothers in, single fathers raising a special needs son. Until I began volunteering, this was hidden to me. Spending one day for a couple of hours once every few weeks serving others tends to open your eyes.
When you read statistics, that’s all they are – numbers. The numbers say that one in six children goes hungry (without a meal) at some point during the week. That should never happen in this country. But it does, and there are a myriad of reasons. It could be the parent of a family works a full-time job for $8 an hour and at that level of paycheck, food can’t be regularly put on the table. It could be the breadwinner in the family has become injured on the job and workman’s compensation doesn’t cover the bills.
Regardless of the specific reason for any individual or family needing help to put food on the table, the ability to provide for others rests on dedicated help from committed people, and the random acts of kindness demonstrated by the man that morning.
I don’t know what dollar figure he wrote the check for. It could have been $100 or $1,000. It doesn’t matter.
Beyond the check, he did something else. Three people were in the building picking up food at the time he entered. After handing in the check, he walked up to each and gave them a twenty dollar bill, then walked out the door.
The responses of each person were fascinating. One blessed him. One thanked him. The third stood stunned, unable to reply.
I watched their reactions from the back room and thought about what this guy did and how we can change the world for the better when we connect with others. In today’s argumentative and finger-pointing environment, this man’s actions made my day, lifted my spirits, and gave me hope that we all should work to maintain in our personal lives.
We’re not going to instantaneously lift people out of poverty. Life doesn’t work that way. But we all can contribute. We all can learn about the circumstances others face in times of hardship and do our little bit.
Random acts of kindness do make a difference in the lives of others. You can be cynical and say, “Yeah, that guy who gave out the twenty dollar bills just wanted to feel good about himself.”
Or you can take the perspective that he wanted to do his part to lift others up and increase their chances ever so slightly to improve their lives. I choose to take this second view of the world.
This happens fairly frequently. People don’t ask that their names be written down. They don’t want accolades. They come in and give us money so we can continue to serve food to needy people in the area about 30 miles west of Milwaukee. You’d think things are okay out here, and for the most part that’s true.
But spending time putting together food packages for those in need surprises you. You see young families, single men and women, middle-aged women bringing their mothers in, single fathers raising a special needs son. Until I began volunteering, this was hidden to me. Spending one day for a couple of hours once every few weeks serving others tends to open your eyes.
When you read statistics, that’s all they are – numbers. The numbers say that one in six children goes hungry (without a meal) at some point during the week. That should never happen in this country. But it does, and there are a myriad of reasons. It could be the parent of a family works a full-time job for $8 an hour and at that level of paycheck, food can’t be regularly put on the table. It could be the breadwinner in the family has become injured on the job and workman’s compensation doesn’t cover the bills.
Regardless of the specific reason for any individual or family needing help to put food on the table, the ability to provide for others rests on dedicated help from committed people, and the random acts of kindness demonstrated by the man that morning.
I don’t know what dollar figure he wrote the check for. It could have been $100 or $1,000. It doesn’t matter.
Beyond the check, he did something else. Three people were in the building picking up food at the time he entered. After handing in the check, he walked up to each and gave them a twenty dollar bill, then walked out the door.
The responses of each person were fascinating. One blessed him. One thanked him. The third stood stunned, unable to reply.
I watched their reactions from the back room and thought about what this guy did and how we can change the world for the better when we connect with others. In today’s argumentative and finger-pointing environment, this man’s actions made my day, lifted my spirits, and gave me hope that we all should work to maintain in our personal lives.
We’re not going to instantaneously lift people out of poverty. Life doesn’t work that way. But we all can contribute. We all can learn about the circumstances others face in times of hardship and do our little bit.
Random acts of kindness do make a difference in the lives of others. You can be cynical and say, “Yeah, that guy who gave out the twenty dollar bills just wanted to feel good about himself.”
Or you can take the perspective that he wanted to do his part to lift others up and increase their chances ever so slightly to improve their lives. I choose to take this second view of the world.