John WileyBy John Wiley
As we enter an especially dark time in this pandemic and unemployment crisis, I had an idea. We have saved a little money this year due to no travel and few outings. Others have lost their jobs and businesses, and struggle to pay their bills or to even feed their families.
When we passed the patient line outside a thrift store, I wondered what would happen if someone offered them a small amount of cash. A few days later we tried it. To our pleasant surprise, when we told them of our relative good fortune and respectfully asked if $20 would be helpful every one of them graciously accepted.
We then asked if they would feel comfortable for us to video them and post it online in the hope of encouraging others to do something similar. Again, most agreed to the video and even told us how they’d spend the cash. Most touching for us was the young mother who would buy food for her daughter. So we’ve started a YouTube Channel with the videos. If you do something like this, would you be willing to View / Like / Comment / Subscribe or even send us your own photo / video, or post them for us to link to?
Here’s the link:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYQl5GAHU23hF5BJlHwjQYQ
Very nice of you to hand out $20 to people waiting in line at a thrift store but for them to have to tell you, on camera, what they would now do they couldn’t do before seems self serving and creepy.
Thanks for sharing your perspective. We look forward to anything you’d like to share about anything you might enjoy doing to help others in need. Happy Holidays.
Tomorrow is also a holiday gift giving tradition in many countries. “Boxing Day is a holiday celebrated the day after Christmas Day … it originated as a holiday to give gifts to the poor … It originated in the United Kingdom and is celebrated in a number of countries that previously formed part of the British Empire” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxing_Day
What a sweet thing to do. Nice to connect personally with others. And I like that some of them are easily comfortable to let you know what a difference that will make for them. I’m going to carry a couple of $20s and see if I might want to share in a similar way… Thanks!
I know of a group of professional men who go out around this season and give gifts of actual items that the homeless might need to individuals on the street. Typically these are socks and toiletries and such. I think this group is admirable in that the do not publicize their work and actually go into the woods, so to speak, to reach out. Handing out cash at a place that you expect to find needful people strikes me as the sin on pride. Putting your efforts on line to let others know of your efforts is beyond that.
OP here. My own idea is to invite and encourage others to safely and respectfully find ways they’re comfortable to help others. I have no need or desire to judge others, be they in need or wanting to help. Maybe 2021 will see some improvement in the economy, and thus fewer people in need.
I hope the same reaction is given to every feel good news story, on tv and online, that also features the recipient.
Watching the extremely short videos may allay your concerns. I’m sure those who appeared were given a choice.
• “public displays of charity may help people do more” – That’s exactly my hope, and how it was presented to the people shown. As mentioned somewhere in the Channel or video Descriptions, we did the exact same thing at a laundromat and not a single recipient was comfortable with a video (much less on uTube). In some ways it was even more meaningful for us. A couple of them sweetly offered to give the cash back but of course we reassured them that it had been a request with absolutely no obligation, in the hope of encouraging others to give. Everyone we did this with was dignified and the interactions were respectful, uniformly ending with everyone feeling happy and hopeful. • “I got real about what I could give” – Us too! As the pandemic ramped up we dug ever deeper, increasing our support of local and national non-profits. Seeing that line of people seeking gifts for their families got us wondering how it would be to contribute in person. It was a little scary but we’re really glad to have done it, and hope to get out again in the next few days to do it again. If nobody else is inspired to do it, we’ll probably take down the videos in a week or two and carry on contributing ourselves. Anyway, thanks everyone for the discussion and feedback. 🙂