Posts Tagged ‘charity’

Making Kids Happy Is Made of Happy!

Monday, December 29th, 2008

Last year, this man’s program gave away 1,416 bikes to kids! 
 

Alex Cook provides bikes for less fortunate families.

Alex Cook remembers the disappointment of waking up on Christmas and not finding a bike, every single year of his childhood.

That’s why about nine years ago, he personally bought 10 bikes to give away to less fortunate families. Alex owns a barbecue restaurant in Tampa and stored the bikes there leading up to Christmas. When his customers started asking questions about the bikes and he told them what they were for, those 10 bikes turned into 182 bikes in just two weeks thanks to their generous donations.

via Christmas Bicycles Hero – Bay News 9.

I can imagine being one of the lucky kids. Thank you, Alex Cook, for being so very made of happy that you wanted to share it! 🙂

Giving To the Homeless Anonymously Is Made of Happy

Saturday, December 27th, 2008

secret_santa
secret_santa by alex maris

There are so many impressive things about this story. Giving to the homeless is already such a wonderful act. Giving $500,000 is incredible. Doing so anonymously is even better. The thing I’m most impressed by was that this person was able to save up that much to give to the homeless as a community college teacher.

Who’s the “Secret Santa” for Sacramento’s homeless?

It’s inspiring to know that someone would want to bequeath $500,000 for a successful program to help the homeless. But it’s doubly impressive that such a donor would not crave the recognition that such a gift deserves.

Cottage Housing, a Sacramento non-profit that helps the homeless transition from the streets to self sufficiency, announced today that it it has received half a million dollars from “the estate of a long-time Sacramento community college teacher.”

via The Swarm: Who’s the “Secret Santa” for Sacramento’s homeless?.

Here’s to honoring the memory of this anonymous donor. Er… you know what I mean. We don’t know who it is, so… I’m sure your family knows who you were, and are immensely proud of your legacy. Homeless people who will benefit from your generosity, not to mention further generosity inspired by your actions, are made of happy.

p.s. I had taken a little holiday vacation. 🙂