Last night a fundraiser was held to assist two elderly people in our community. Their house was caught up in a fire that took out four homes shortly before Christmas and the woman of the couple nearly lost her life, but was saved by several firefighters. It wasn’t a fire caused by a smoldering cigarette, or a pot left on the stove. It was a fire caused by the senseless violence of a gang of young men who threw a firebomb at a house that was attached to their house. Theirs was a total loss and the only things left are the four walls holding up the structure.
The fundraiser was mostly organized by their son, who has a catering company in a nearby town who does beef and beer type events. One reason I attended was that one of the civic organizations that I belong to assisted in the organizing and selling tickets. However, most of the planning was done by the son and most of the guests were friends and family of the parents. It was really heartwarming to see that many people come to support those two. 500 tickets were sold, and needless to say the place was packed, as you can see in this photo.
Samuel Johnson said, “There will always be a part, and always a very large part of every community, that have no care but for themselves, and whose care for themselves reaches little further than impatience of immediate pain, and eagerness for the nearest good.” In most cases I believe this to be true. There are so many people who could care less about what the implications of their actions on those around them. Case in point the totally selfish action of the gang member who put four families out their homes to settle some misguided sense of justice. However, last night’s outpouring of support for two members of the community to help them rebuild their lives goes against those words. We all have it in us to join together and give a leg-up to another. I just wish more people would rally around and do what is right for a change.
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