By: \u00a0Ben Feldman<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/heart-of-america1.jpg\" "\\"heart-of-america\\"")
Alexis de Tocqueville, the 26 year old Frenchman who visited America in its embryonic years remarked, “I must say I have seen American’s make a great deal of real sacrifices to the public welfare; and have noticed a hundred instances in which they hardly ever failed to lend faithful support to one another.”<\/p>\n
There are some people of means that help those with little means. They do so without celebrity, political persuasion, or government prodding. Their stories are remarkable. Here is a sampling.<\/p>\n
A Florida firm had planned an award ceremony to recognize twelve employees for their hard work and goodwill to the firm’s customers. A man named Joshua was one of those twelve to be recognized and applauded publicly. “This was a guy that never got a break,” said one of the executives. “He brought good cheer to many people for years,” another executive told me.<\/p>\n
When Joshua was notified that he was to be one of the twelve recipients he said that he may not be able to attend. Why? He didn’t own a suit. Once it became known that Joshua may not attend the ceremony because he didn’t own a suit, two executives decided to buy him one, plus shirts and ties. The result was Joshua’s attendance so he could receive the award and applause he deserved.<\/p>\n
Surprisingly, the good consequences of the award didn’t end with the award ceremony. One of the executives noticed Joshua had a mouthful of painfully looking disfigured teeth. That gave him a guarded smile. Noticing this, the executive created a fund drive among the executives at the firm to fix Joshua’s teeth because the firm’s insurance would not cover cosmetic work. He secured the services of a dentist to lower the cost of the dental work. Joshua also contributed some funds. But the heavy investing was borne by the firm’s executives.<\/p>\n
Here were these executives, all men of means, high tax brackets,helping a colleague of lesser means, lesser tax bracket and lesser education. Why? Because, as the executive who raised the funds said,\u201d he had done right by us, we wanted to do right by him.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is the heart of America.<\/p>\n
One of the executives that participated in the fund drive was not unaccustomed to helping others. Reading in a local newspaper that a Jewish Temple was unable to get their Torah repaired, because they didn’t have the funds, he called the Rabbi and offered to pay the funds to repair their Torah. The Temple had a special service for him and his wife, afterwards.<\/p>\n
The executive is a Christian.<\/p>\n
As we look at the heart of those who give, freely, and feel the financial despair in others, we consider a retired couple, John and Jan, who like to help those in need. Jan’s car always has bottled water, apple sauce, spoons, shampoo, sausages; all for the street people. She makes blankets and hands them out to those in need. Once, at a local store in Ft. Myers, Florida, she bought an elderly customer a gas can he was trying to buy.<\/p>\n
John and Jan give 50 dollar gift cards to seniors, anonymously. They told me they knew a married man with cancer in his late 30\u2019s. He and his wife had five kids. They bought this family a gift card worth 125 dollars. Plus, helped the family get scholarship money to educate the kids.<\/p>\n
John and Jan are not rich. John is a retired electrical engineer. He told me he doesn\u2019t know where this drive to help others originated inside him. He just likes to help. But the Osborns did tell me they go to a church Bible study class, weekly.<\/p>\n
The story that grabbed my notice, above all they revealed, came when they told me about their neighbor, a young woman whose husband worked as a fireman. This 32 year old woman needed some special medical treatment that her insurance would not cover. The cost was 6000 dollars. She didn\u2019t have it. The Osborns talked it over and offered to pay for the treatment.<\/p>\n
She turned it down having made other arrangements.<\/p>\n
Like the executives that fixed a colleagues teeth, John and Jan help without celebrity, government inspiration or political persuasion.<\/p>\n
This is the heart of America.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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