Random Acts of Kindness

Hi Friends,

We are coming to the end of our trip to Maui. We have been here for nine days. I must say, it has really been relaxing. Bill and I went to church yesterday and learned about a program that gives out groceries to the needy.

I think when anyone thinks of the Hawaiian Islands, they think of warm weather, people having money, a great place to visit, resort life. I don't think anyone ever thinks of what the rest of the island goes through. This small resort church is part of an organization that goes into local communities and gives out bags of groceries twice a week. They give out over 60,000 bags a week! It's hard to imagine that that many people need help. Once you get off the "resort path," there are many poor people here. Folks have a hard time making it because everything costs so much.

For example:

We had to send a fax several days ago - $45
We had to get our signatures notarized - $85 - I was floored by that cost!!!
A very small coke is $4
We played golf at a top course - $500
A bottle of water - $6

It is very expensive here. It got me to thinking....every place we ALL live has people who struggle, not only in Hawaii, because of the high cost of living.

As investors, I think most of us live in nice places, our friends live in nice places, we have a car, we have nice clothes, and we don't really give much thought to the poor. Sure, we feed the hungry through programs on TV, but what do you personally do to help out?

Some of us give money to the people on the street corners, but are they really poor? I saw a show in TV recently and some of those "homeless" people make over $800 a week. They are not homeless, this is their job. So the few bad ones ruin it for the ones who really need help.

So....what can we really do to help? I'm not sure, but I know we need to do something. We can't always assume that "someone else" will do it. We are the "someone else's" of the world.

As investors, we make money from helping homeowners in foreclosure...I feel we need to personally do more. Maybe go downtown where the homeless hang out and personally give food, donate time to the homeless shelter, find a family in your community who needs help and offer to help - maybe fix a porch for an elderly widow, buy someone storm windows in the winter, find a house with no air conditioning and buy a window unit and leave it on the porch, help someone who needs surgery and has no insurance. Stop into an auto repair shop and look at the poorest looking car and pay for the repairs. Pay for someones new tires. Put a bag of groceries on a doorstep.

The Bible says that we will be blessed by what we do in private. No one needs to know your good deeds. Knowing that it pleases God should be reward enough.

Bill and I have done so many anonymous things for our community. We don't want people to know it was us because we don't want them to feel indebted to us. By contacting a local church, you could find folks right in your community who need YOUR help. You can make such a difference in the lives of the folks who live in your community.

Let's all practice random acts of kindness and see what happens... It would make this a wonderful world.

So....what does today's post have to do with real estate investing? Nothing. It has to do with the first step...making a difference in the lives of others.

Let me know what you have done by posting some of your good deeds here...anonymously, of course:-).

Have a blessed day...

Dwan
http://www.theieu.com/