Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Spread the good news!

"My grandchildren will get to have the same experience working in the same homeless shelter that I did."

The Stanford student obviously had a life changing experience at the shelter. It was something that he wants others to have the opportunity to experience, especially those closest to him. Maybe he wants his grandchildren to be involved and partake in this specific service that is so dear to his heart so it is something they could share together. It could have the same affect and change their lives, just like it did his. He wants them to experience it first hand rather than just living through the stories he has to tell. Or on the other hand, it could be any service in general. Giving back to the community has to have an affect on the person no matter how greedy they are. Through my experience, reading stories rather than be directly involved in 100% different. Stories are inspiring and can give us the courage and confidence to make a difference. However, performing the act is a completely different ordeal. It is even hard to put into words. The tugging on your heart and the emotional aspect is something you will never forget. Most of my experience has been with children. When you wake up in the morning, you push through the fatigue because once you see their faces, nothing else matters besides making them happy. The Stanford student wants to spread the good news! He wants his grandchildren to give back to the community to experience those breath taking moments that give your life reason.


It is devastating to see the effects of poverty when you are driving down the streets. It is all around us and yet, some people still choose to ignore it. As many others have mentioned, we live in a world full of greed. American's number one concern is themselves. Luckily, we do have people that have noticed this problem in society and are taking the measures to fix it. However, there never seems to be enough. The problems greatly outweigh the number of people that are willing to help. So it seems, until people are affected directly, our numbers are not enough. On a good note, this economic crisis could be a real eye opener for many. Even if we are not loosing our house, many of us probably know someone who is or has. People are starting to take notice of the changes that have to be made in order to steer clear of this ever growing problem. Maybe that will encourage them to think past the needs of themselves.

Unfortunately, homelessness seems inevitable. Even if people band together to stop it, there is no saying that homeless individuals are willing to put in the effort to get off the streets. As I have learned in my "Stand Up For Kids" training, it is a long and very hard process. It is definitely not something that happens over night. I would love to drive the streets and never see someone on the side of the road begging for money. But then again, I see this happening in the perfect world. That perfect world is not a place we live in. I am not trying to be negative but I like to think realistically. However, even though I do not see this in the future for my grandchildren, there is much to be done. We should remain positive in thinking that we can contribute to helping our country fight poverty. Every little thing makes a difference and will leave footprints in the sand for the future generations to come. ::For any of you that love the footprints poem as much as I do :)

3 comments:

Lyndsey Grinstead said...

I LOVE the footprints poem! And I agree that we need to be positive, it is just hard when the world today focuses on the negative and dwells on it. Keep trying to make a difference and you will for sure make a change in some child's world :)

Lynds

Israel Montero said...

Love your passion and you optimistic view of life. Buen trabajo!
"A positive attitude brings strength, energy and initiative."

Enrique Cardon said...

I totally agree with what you say about the grandchildren needing to experience it first hand rather than through stories. I think this is funny because last week we focused so much on how important stories are. Maybe there is some sort of happy medium that we are missing out on....