There Is Hope!
Last Friday (Good Friday), my wife and I were driving on Montrose Avenue near Honolulu when we saw a man in a wheelchair that seemed to be talking to himself. While we were stopped for a red light, I rolled down the window to try and hear what he was saying. He had his head down and was asking for food, with no one around. Just then we saw a young man in his 20s walking up the sidewalk. We expected him to be startled by the screaming man in the wheelchair, but when he approached the man he pulled out a Togo’s sandwich and gave it to him. He then turned around and went about his business.

Obviously he had heard the man’s cries for food and had gone out specifically to buy him a sandwich. A true random act of kindness.

There are many other acts of kindness occurring regularly in our neighborhood by unsung heroes. These acts are hardly random. They are perpetrated by heroes such as Mary O’Keefe, who has personally changed the direction of hundreds of youth in our area by being involved in redirecting their lives toward positive outcomes. Whether she is staffing the Firehouse on Foothill Boulevard, giving kids a place to congregate and not get into trouble, or working on the Anti-Drug Coalition, Prom Plus, or any number of volunteer endeavors, Mary is our local 24/7 youth rescue team. Mary can immediately mobilize a small army of people (of which I’m proud to say I’m a member) to go look for a wayward youth who might be out to harm themselves.

The other unsung heroes around here are Robin and Steve Goldsworthy. There’s not a single community activity where you don’t see one, or both, of this dynamic duo. I doubt that either one of them knows how to say “no” to any request for support if it will benefit our community. There are not enough column inches to begin to recognize their vast contributions, not to mention having the guts to establish a neighborhood paper when the entire world is going digital!

It’s pretty easy to get down on the ills of society, I just thought someone should point out that there are daily examples of people positively affecting our community – you just have to look.

Mike Leum
La Crescenta

  Mike LEUM