We often have teenagers volunteering at North Beach Medical Equipment.  Sometimes it's because they have gotten into a little trouble and the courts said that they could perform community service hours.  Usually, it is part of their schools graduation requirements to get into the community and do some good.  Either way, I really enjoy it when they are working with us.

No, they aren't the most productive, and often they don't know how to operate a broom, but they are full of promise and their future is wide open.  Quite often they have never volunteered before and have little experience in putting others ahead of themselves, but with us, they get to see the joy of being helpful, of lifting others up when they have fallen, and learning that compassion and empathy towards others is a good thing and that it feels good, deep down where no one else can see it.  They learn that doing good is a good thing to do, that it is the right thing to do, and there is a huge need for people to do it.

I hope that in the short time that they are with us, there will be seeds planted, seeds that will blossom and bear fruit, not just now, but for generations to come.

How did that happen?

On January 31st of 2018, we helped our 5,000th person.  That is mind blowing to me, how on Earth did we help 5,000 people?  We did it one person at a time.  Again and again, when someone came to us needing help, needing medical equipment and supplies that they could not afford, we were able to help them when they really, really needed help. 

You help the person in front of you, the best you can, with what you have at that time.  And then you do it again.