Extend Your Hand, Don’t Point It

Posted on May 26, 2016 by Paul Mark Sutherland

ANCHORAGE — Kenyada Waters was driving through town when she noticed a man on the side of the road. He was holding up a cardboard sign that read, “Laid off 2 long. Anything helps.” Waters noticed all of the cars in front of her drove right past him.

Something in her told her to stop and hear his story.

The man introduced himself as Richard and explained his situation. He told her how he’s been a tree-trimmer for nearly 20 years but found himself down on his luck after getting laid off.

Richard said his cellphone was cut off because he ran out of money. Standing on the side of the road with a cardboard sign was his last resort. He told Waters that people would drive by him and yell out, “Get a job you stupid, lazy bum!” Richard told Waters that he had submitted over 20 job applications but since his phone was turned off, he wasn’t able to hear back.

Waters says his story inspired her to help. She decided to pay for two months’ worth of cellphone service for him. “This man cried in AT&T!” Waters said.

As soon as his phone powered back on, there was a job opportunity waiting for him in his text message log.

“It might be you one day!” Waters wrote on a GoFundMe page she has set up for Richard.

“Extend your hand don’t point it!”

Enjoy!

This story originally appeared in USA Today:

Paris Open Doors

Posted on November 14, 2015 by Paul Mark Sutherland

Paris residents warmed the Internet’s collective heart Friday night by using the hashtag #PorteOuverte, or “open door,” to offer shelter to strangers left stranded after at least six deadly attacks sent the city into chaos. A few hours later, people across the U.S. returned the favor with a hashtag of their own: #StrandedinUS.

PARIS

The hashtag #StrandedinUS began trending overnight Friday into Saturday with offers from Americans willing to help Parisians having trouble making their way back home due to airline cancellations or delays. People offered up beds, couches and hot meals to French nationals in need.

Those having trouble making their way back to France were also encouraged to use the hashtag to ask for help.

graphic credit: unknown, information credit: NBC News

Special Bikes for Special Kids by a Special Man

Posted on November 5, 2015 by Paul Mark Sutherland

Bicycles and tricycles for special needs children have adaptations like foot straps, torso supports and adjustable parts. They cost from $800 to $5,000, said Andrew McLindon, 53, founder of the foundation.

Over seven years, the McLindon Family Foundation has given away adaptive tricycles to children in nine states, helping them feel the independence and freedom of riding a bike.

McLindon’s love of bicycles led him to give away adaptive bikes. After success with the commercial construction company he started in 1989, he added auxiliary businesses that became Mainspring Companies, a group of construction, maintenance and real estate development enterprises.

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Enjoy!

A Pizza and A Coke

Posted on October 29, 2015 by Paul Mark Sutherland

Both gentlemen may have slept a bit more contented that evening,
but likely for different reasons.

I’m reminded of the poem “Don’t Find Fault”

Don’t find fault with the man who limps
    or stumbles along the road,
Unless you have worn the shoes that he wears,
    or struggled beneath his load.
There may be tacks in his shoes that hurt,
    though hidden away from view
Or burdens he bears placed on your back,
    might cause you to stumble too.

Don’t sneer at the man who’s down today,
    unless you have felt the blow
That caused his fall, or felt the same way,
    that only the fallen know.
You may be strong,
    but yet the blow that was his, if dealt to you
In the self-same way, or at the self-same time,
    might cause you to stagger, too.

Don’t be harsh with the man who sins,
    or pelt him with words or stone,
Unless you are sure-yes doubly sure,
    that you have no sins of your own
For you know, perhaps, if the tempter’s voice
    should whisper as soft to you
As it did to him, when he went astray,
    it would cause you to falter, too.

-Author Unknown

Enjoy!

Homeless Man Gives Beyond His Means

Posted on June 29, 2015 by Paul Mark Sutherland

A community in British Columbia is feeling warm and fuzzy after a homeless man’s generosity inspired residents not once but twice over the past two weeks. First, the unidentified man with little to his name found a suitcase with $2,000 in it on a street in Victoria, but turned over the cash to police believing it was “the right thing to do,” authorities tell the CBC.

As the story spread, Mike Kelly of website Victoria Buzz began fundraising to help the guy out and donations flooded in, totaling $5,000—including $255 donated by kids who’d opened a lemonade stand, CTV News reports. But finding the Langford man in his 60s proved difficult. “It’s not easy tracking down a person of no fixed address and no phone, but I kept trying,” says officer Alex Bérubé. “I was touched by the story.”

After hours of searching on and off the clock, Bérubé finally found him on Monday and told him of the money that was his if he wanted it; he didn’t. “Instead of asking how to collect it, he asked me how to donate it” to a local homeless shelter, Our Place, and other food service providers for homeless people, Bérubé says.

Officers told the man to think over his decision, but when he visited a police branch thenext day, his choice was the same. In a handwritten letter, he described his intentions for the money—though he also made one small, additional request: He asked for a job. Kelly says he plans “to do everything I can to help find him a job that fits his personal situation” and is soliciting help.