An article in the New York Times on Saturday really touched me. It was about life in Maine during the winter living on a restricted income and unable to afford fuel oil to heat a home. The article titled, In Fuel Oil Country, Cold that Cuts to the Heart brought home the hard decisions that must be made by business owners when faced with needy and destitute people.
Although the article is about the hard decisions that the owners of a fuel oil delivery company has to make to keep his business solvent, it is also about how those hard decisions take a toll on him and those who work for him.
The real heartening part of the story though, is the last part where an anonymous donator has a standing agreement to provide 50 gallons of fuel oil for an emergency case.
I have heard of this before--a local auto repair shop told me of the generosity of one of my neighbors who anonymously pays much of the repairs for other more needy neighbors. This is the true nature of paying it forward. But it meets real needs far better than buying someone's dinner at the Fast Food window.
We really can make a difference.
-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD
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