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October 09, 2010

tangible help

Today while working an event that brings community together and leans heavily on volunteers and the good will of people, I learned of an extraordinary man. This volunteer is currently in his last months, dying from cancer. Nonetheless, he rallied his friends and family to volunteer with him to help others in need. Since he couldn't do heavy lifting, he drove a vehicle that carried others to do the lifting. I've not met this person, but the storyteller was moved to tears when she spoke of him and how much she'd miss him at the next event, when she believes he'll no longer be alive.

All day as I worked I kept thinking of this guy who in the last weeks and months of his life was giving his time and skills to others and making his community a better place in such a tangible and felt way. I know tons of people who are working to make the world a better place but still, I wonder, they are working towards whom's opinion of a better place? I love it when I hear of people who ask, "what needs to be done" and then with a smile on their face they get to work. And that's what they do till the end of their days.