Reflecting on giving to others

There is an old saying that goes those with the least are willing to give the most.

In the past week, I witnessed an amazing example of this in action and it really got my mind wandering.

I was checking online and came across a video experiment by a group named OCK TV. In the short video, they approach a variety of people in New York City sitting outside of a pizza. One after another, they tell the diners they are hungry and asks if they could spare any of their food.

One by one, the answer is always no, and a lot of times it’s not pleasant.

Near the end of the video, a member of the group gives a homeless man an entire pizza which he is more than happy to accept.

Moments later a member of the group and tells him he’s hungry and asks for some of his pizza.

Without hesitation, the homeless man offers his food.

To me, this is a beautiful gesture that really taught me a lot.

I’m not one to judge him for why he’s homeless and there are probably a lot of factors that pushed him there, but just the fact he was more than willing to share his food said a lot, and was remarkable in a lot of ways.

For all I know that could have been his first meal in a week, but he still did.

Life is to short, so this really made me want to do more.

I’m by no means rich, but I make enough money to have a descent life and I’m happy. I have food, shelter and clothes.

I wrote a column a few months ago about trying to do more by doing a nice gesture each day.

While I’ve tried to do this, the holidays are rapidly approaching and I know I can do a lot more.

This year while a lot of us are gathered around in houses gorging ourselves on prime rib, there will be people that are lucky if they have anything to eat.

So I’m issuing a challenge to anyone who reads this.

Whatever you bring to the Green River Star, whether it be canned food, coats, clothes, toys, I will personally match that donation.

I don’t care if I have to use whatever Christmas bonus I may get, or my family doesn’t end up with really great gifts. If I can’t afford I’ll make sure I’ll match the rest with donations.

Bring it to the office by Dec. 11 and I will make sure it gets to the people who need it. Giving people in need something they need is a lot more important.

So bring down whatever you’d like and ask for me. It will bring a smile to my face, but more importantly could make the holidays a lot better for someone who really needs it.

We kind of lose the meaning of things sometimes, so I’m not letting this season go by without doing something about it. There are a lot of local people who help out, just trying to do my part too.