A heartwarming story out of our town today:
On May 1, a friend's children and ex-wife were left with only the clothes on their back after their apartment and belongings werre destroyed in a fire.
My friend and the band he's part of decided to hold a benefit concert at our church in order to raise funds to help out the family. The concert was announced in church, and afterwards my friend asked his wife (also a band member), "Do you think we'll raise $500?"
Well, I've been in the church office all week, and people have been almost literally throwing money at me. I go to the bathroom, come back, and find a cheque or an envelope on my desk or even on my chair. Half the incoming phone calls are asking about the concert, and, "Who can I make the cheque out to?" We had $500 by the end of the Sunday service, and it just keeps coming. We'll probably have three times that amount before the band plays a single note.
Our folks are like that. In fact, I find that most folks are like that. People don't like to give to a "general fund" where they don't know how the money's used. But tell them that the money is for a specific purpose that tugs at their heart strings, and the purse strings open up, too. The person to person connection really does matter.
This whole affair has got me asking myself: I wonder if I held a "special appeal" to help pay off my student loans, if it would work. Hmmm....
Probably not, but it's a nice dream.
At any rate, I'm looking forward to Friday. The band always puts on a good show, and I'll be with a whole bunch of generous people whom I genuinely like. Who could ask for anything more?
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