The Volunteering Thing

It's well documented many prison inmates came from tragic, skewed and messed-up homes.

A wrecked childhood can certainly lead to a wrecked adulthood, where anger supersedes all else.

On the other hand, it's worth noting how many adults, every single day in every single city, make children's lives better despite their own shattered experiences.

I don't know how this happens. How can two people with similar circumstances arrive at opposing lifestyles?


A teacher, a coach, a parent...a citizen with little reason to see the upside ventures forth anyway to make some kid's life a better one.

It can take so little to offer hope. A smile, a word, an acknowledgment...things will get better because you have worth.

It is both bewildering and uplifting to read of these children passing it forward one sandwich at a time. Where did they get this goodness?

As we launch into a new year with so much to fear and enrage us...maybe there's time to deliver the gold.

Two fourth-graders find a way to share school's food (LA Times)