To give is better than to receive

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David_L_Wilson

Pre-takeoff checklist
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David L Wilson
“To give is better than to receive.” We have all heard this quote from the Bible regardless what religion you follow. I had a chance today to do just that. I am not talking about handing out money to people with cardboard signs at intersections. I am talking about helping a young homeless man that is a student in the technical Institute in which I teach. I saw him at the “smoking area” taking butts out of the ash can. I felt sorry for him so I started talking to him. I found out that he lives under a bridge near where my school is. He had no shelter or sleeping comforts. These things we take for granted. He asked me for nothing, so I decided to help him. I told him to wait in the school lounge and I would be back. I went to Wal-Mart and paid a little over $100 to buy him things to help him survive. Here is the list. It is what I would want if I was in his predicament.
Tent, sleeping bag, camp pillow, mess kit, 5 gallon water container, flashlight, hammer, rain poncho, two cases of Raman Noodles and a prepaid cell phone so he could find a job.
I also gave him some things I just happen to have in my car as I never clean it out: Stove, Lantern, propane bottle and hatchet.
After giving him all these things, which cost me very little, he was nearly moved to tears. I am telling you this story not to brag about my generosity. No, giving is in fact more a blessing than receiving. Let face it, most of us have received a great quantity of things in our lives. Most of us had our higher education paid for by our parents. We would not be where we are today if someone had not given us much already. Many of you probably already give to help those less fortunate, but seldom have the chance to see the effect of one small gift to a desperate person can make. I urge you to do as I have done and see the joy it will bring you.
 
Thanks for the reminder. A little perspective always helps. And taking action....that is the next step.
 
David_L_Wilson said:
“To give is better than to receive.” We have all heard this quote from the Bible regardless what religion you follow. I had a chance today to do just that. I am not talking about handing out money to people with cardboard signs at intersections. I am talking about helping a young homeless man that is a student in the technical Institute in which I teach. I saw him at the “smoking area” taking butts out of the ash can. I felt sorry for him so I started talking to him. I found out that he lives under a bridge near where my school is. He had no shelter or sleeping comforts. These things we take for granted. He asked me for nothing, so I decided to help him. I told him to wait in the school lounge and I would be back. I went to Wal-Mart and paid a little over $100 to buy him things to help him survive. Here is the list. It is what I would want if I was in his predicament.
Tent, sleeping bag, camp pillow, mess kit, 5 gallon water container, flashlight, hammer, rain poncho, two cases of Raman Noodles and a prepaid cell phone so he could find a job.
I also gave him some things I just happen to have in my car as I never clean it out: Stove, Lantern, propane bottle and hatchet.
After giving him all these things, which cost me very little, he was nearly moved to tears. I am telling you this story not to brag about my generosity. No, giving is in fact more a blessing than receiving. Let face it, most of us have received a great quantity of things in our lives. Most of us had our higher education paid for by our parents. We would not be where we are today if someone had not given us much already. Many of you probably already give to help those less fortunate, but seldom have the chance to see the effect of one small gift to a desperate person can make. I urge you to do as I have done and see the joy it will bring you.
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David, your generosity is commendable and while I really don't want to rain on that parade, have you considered how this young man will be able to prevent the theft of those items while he's attending class etc?
 
gismo said:
David, your generosity is commendable and while I really don't want to rain on that parade, have you considered how this young man will be able to prevent the theft of those items while he's attending class etc?
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That is interesting you bring that up. He told me there is a code among homeless people that they do not steal from each other. I was concerned about the same thing but he said not to worry. I hope he is correct.
 
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gismo said:
David, your generosity is commendable and while I really don't want to rain on that parade, have you considered how this young man will be able to prevent the theft of those items while he's attending class etc?
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Furthermore, I would like to say that this was not an act of generosity. $100 is a very small sum to a person in my position. Only the willingness to help I believe may deserve some commendation. However, it was not my motivation. I saw a human struggling and suffering to change their life by going to school. I could not turn my back on that kind of spirit. Unfortunately, for it to be a true selfless act, I would have had to be anonymous. That was not the case here as direct intervention was needed now.
 
Hi David - It sounds like you were the one that was humbled by his reponse. Good for you (seriousely). Perhaps your kindness will be the turning point in that young mans life.
 
You never know when a modest act of kindness will leverage into something much greater. Loaves and fishes...
 
Good on you! Plenty of good karma there.

I do the same thing from time to time. I absolutely unconditionally refuse to give to a charity operation or street beggars. (I actually walked out of a job when push came to shove and they demanded that I give money to their annual charity drive to one of the well known charity groups) I do however run across individuals on occasion who are honestly in need and help them out. Most of the time it's just a little of my time, offloading something I consider useless to someone who needs it, or money on the rare occasion. If I'm going to help out or give money, absolutely 100% of what I put into the situation will go directly to the actual person in need.


Last century I was in a rathole, um, rather decent apartment, and the single lady next door worked in the building doing cleaning and office work. She didn't even have a car. One morning at 5am it's pouring rain, around 35F and pitch black out. I just opened the door to go to work and her 14 year old daughter walked past. I asked her what she was doing up that early and she said going to school. Her school was some 4 miles away and she walked it every days without fail. Long story short, I drove out of my way to drop her off at school every morning and helped out with general transportation and a few other things over the next 3 years. They were fairly hard up and did what they could to survive without begging or taking $$ from charity. They were determined to make it on their own. The little extra help kept a roof over their heads. Just for fun, me and her mother managed to come up with enough spare $$ between the two of us to send her on one of the school sponsored 2 week trips to Europe without busting the bank so she could do one really big fun thing before HS graduation that would have otherwise been completely out of reach.

There is nothing quite like helping someone who is in a bad situation just because it's the right thing to do.
 
Good for you- I will also go out of my way for someone who is actually trying to get a leg up, even if they're not doing too well at it.

But I also have my doubts about the "code of the homeless"... it may be true for the most part, even among drinkers or the mentally ill, but if any of his "neighbors" are drug addicts, he can kiss that stuff goodbye, code or no code.
 
I have to say that I am not surprised at the response to this thread. For each of you who have commented I am sure that many others agree and do the same thing. You are all decent people and I know many of you help the less fortunate. I wrote you all to remind you of the joy of giving. I am concerned as well that this young man may have his things stolen. That is why I didn’t purchase any expensive items with the exception of the cell phone. I am sure he will keep that on his person. I have cast my bread upon the water so to speak and will see what effect it has on his life. I see him almost every day at the University. I am not finished helping this young man. I plan to go through my closet and get some clothes that I no longer wear and give it to him along with some socks and underwear from Walmart. I need to give him the ability to clean up so he can get a job. The phone was step 1.
 
rottydaddy said:
Good for you- I will also go out of my way for someone who is actually trying to get a leg up, even if they're not doing too well at it.

But I also have my doubts about the "code of the homeless"... it may be true for the most part, even among drinkers or the mentally ill, but if any of his "neighbors" are drug addicts, he can kiss that stuff goodbye, code or no code.
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Where he has setup camp there are not any neighbors. Most of the homeless in Oklahoma City are not truly homeless, but just panhandlers.
 
Gee, can you imagine how great our President is gonna feel after he has given everybody everything?:D
 
David, I hope this works out for your student. I am sad to say that after administering the assistance you so generously gave, I would have advised the student to get out of school until they got their life straightened out. I consider it very difficult to inculcate oneself in an academic discipline if one's life is so badly out of control.
 
Dave, what a kindly thing to do! I know you didn't do this with the thought of any reward, but I do believe in karma. One reaps what one sows, so to speak.
 
David_L_Wilson said:
The phone was step 1.
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Here's something you might consider suggesting at some point: A camper.

I'm a fulltimer for 3 years now and I've seen everything ranging from beyond filthy rich to way less than dirt poor.

Some reasonable condition old campers can be picked up for little to nothing. Sometimes they are free if you'll just take it off the owners hands. The camper may need a little work however they can often be livable immediately then fix the little things over time. (Heck, just a week ago I talked to someone who is about to toss a mid 1970's motorhome just to get rid of it since he had something new and the old one was a bit weather worn)
In general, fulltime campgrounds with full hookups are about 1/2 the cost of an apartment in any given area. If the camper doesn't have a bathroom, most campgrounds have shower and bathroom facilities. If there is any BLM land or equivalent nearby, cost of living drops to near zero.

Just a thought that might get him off the streets and into a safe stable living environment with other fulltime neighbors that help and look out for each other.
P.S. If he can't afford campground rates and is a decent person, he might be able to be a camp host and get a free camping spot in exhange for working about 20 hrs/week at the campground.
 
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fgcason said:
Here's something you might consider suggesting at some point: A camper.

I'm a fulltimer for 3 years now and I've seen everything ranging from beyond filthy rich to way less than dirt poor.

Some reasonable condition old campers can be picked up for little to nothing. Sometimes they are free if you'll just take it off the owners hands. The camper may need a little work however they can often be livable immediately then fix the little things over time. (Heck, just a week ago I talked to someone who is about to toss a mid 1970's motorhome just to get rid of it since he had something new and the old one was a bit weather worn)
In general, fulltime campgrounds with full hookups are about 1/2 the cost of an apartment in any given area. If the camper doesn't have a bathroom, most campgrounds have shower and bathroom facilities. If there is any BLM land or equivalent nearby, cost of living drops to near zero.

Just a thought that might get him off the streets and into a safe stable living environment with other fulltime neighbors that help and look out for each other.
P.S. If he can't afford campground rates and is a decent person, he might be able to be a camp host and get a free camping spot in exhange for working about 20 hrs/week at the campground.
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Hmmm. Last spring I finally got rid of the 1970 mini-camper that had been sitting in the woods for almost 15 years. It wasn't particularly roadworthy but with a thorough cleaning it could have been quite habitable. Setting it up as a homeless shelter never crossed my mind unfortunately.
 
gismo said:
Hmmm. Last spring I finally got rid of the 1970 mini-camper that had been sitting in the woods for almost 15 years. It wasn't particularly roadworthy but with a thorough cleaning it could have been quite habitable. Setting it up as a homeless shelter never crossed my mind unfortunately.
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It's completely out of the realm of homeless shelters. It's simply a house on wheels and a completely different lifestyle. Very few people even know this lifestyle exists (including many people who own campers) so no matter how bad off they are, they completely overlook it as an option because they don't even think about it. It's the housing equivalent of a caveman considering the usefulness of instrument approaches.
 
I dug through my closet and gathered some clothes I never ware. I hope they fit him as he is on the slim side. I am certainly not slim....
 
A person can get a great feeling from a small act of kindness. Since you are a fairly new POAer I'll share one of mine.

Francis Hoopes was in a nursing home in Gresham, OR. He was a pilot in his younger years, he was now in his 80s and had suffered a bad stroke. The activity director had a program called " Forget me not". She would ask the residents what they would like to do, kind of a make a wish. Francis wanted to go for another airplane ride. Someone dropped my name and I got the call. I flew 600 miles round trip and gave Francis a 25 minute ride from Troutdale (TTD) to a little strip at Cascade Locks. Here is a trailer of the flight:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fOqaU96iLI
 
What a great thing to do Bob! I had the chance to take an old pilot out in my 150. After he got the hang of it I put him in the left seat. I have lots of time flying from the right seat anyhow. So, he set up to land, with the understanding that I would take the plane at any time and not to fight me. I only had to help a little bit on the flare. He was greatful. I had a ball.
 
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