Good People Doing Good Things — Quietly

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, education, Environmental Issues, Good people doing good things, Social commentary

Yesterday, I thought my frame of mind was going to make it difficult to get in the mode to go in search of ‘good people’ for this morning’s post, but … I was wrong.  Once I got started, good people just began pouring onto my screen and I had to pick and choose just a few!

Investing in the future …

As most of you know, I don’t have a lot of respect for ‘Corporate America’ … I see capitalists as a greedy bunch, unwilling to pay their fair share and always on the lookout for ways to take shortcuts, to further their wealth while reducing ours.  However, every now and then a corporation does something that makes me sit up and take notice, and today, Hormel Foods is one such company.

Hormel Foods announced last week that it will begin offering two years of free college tuition to all the children of their U.S. employees beginning next year.  Not based on achievement in test scores or GPA, the new program is a way to create equality in education admissions—and the company hopes many who take advantage of the offer will be first-generation college students in their families.

Called “Inspired Pathways,” the program will begin in the fall of 2021. A spokesperson for Hormel Foods said the company has 16,000 domestic employees and the program is open to any dependent child of those workers. The company has more than 30 plant and office locations in the U.S., primarily in the Midwest, and the kids can attend any community college of their choice as long as they graduate from high school and meet the school’s entry requirements.

Hormel’s President and CEO Jim Snee said …

“When you think about how a college education can change lives and start a ripple effect that will be felt for generations, that’s the change-maker Hormel Foods wants to be.”

Additionally, the company offers tuition reimbursement for current team members who go back to school while working at Hormel Foods.  There can be no better investment than in our children’s education, and my hat is off to Hormel for making that investment in our children, our country, our future.

One good turn deserves another …

Jocelynn James of Franklin County, Alabama, used to have a drug problem – she was addicted to opioids and supported her drug habit by stealing and breaking the law.  She wasn’t very good at that law-breaking thing, and was arrested numerous times between 2007 and 2012, most often by Officer Terrell Potter.  She finally managed to get back on track and has now been drug-free for eight years.

Officer Potter, however, recently found out that his kidney was failing and that the waiting list for a donor kidney was so long that he would not live long enough for his name to come to the top of the list.  Ms. James found out from a Facebook post and she decided to help if she could.  She was tested and turns out she was a perfect match to donate a kidney to Officer Potter, and that is just what she did!James-PotterThe surgery was performed a month-and-a-half ago, and Officer Potter is doing well, grateful to Ms. James, who says it seemed only right that she could save his life, for she believed that he had saved hers all those many years ago.

One meal at a time …

In St. Louis, Missouri, Chef Tyler Davis is on a mission to feed St. Louis area kids who are out of school due to the coronavirus pandemic.  His good deed started with a handful of volunteers preparing nutritional meals for students in a small kitchen in south city. Just this week, Davis and his team fed another 400 children. As of April 10, they’ve distributed a total of 1,600 lunch kits to area children.  Says Davis …

Tyler-Davis“I’m not trying to let anybody go hungry and if I can do anything you know to feed one or two individuals, then that’s what I want to do.  So many people were very, very receptive and were asking me, ‘How do I help? How do I donate and how do I volunteer?  It started out kind of being like just three, four, five and then it grew to 120 delivered during our first round. Now, it’s blown up. I’m very, very grateful for all the help from my volunteers, all the donations we’ve received, and we will keep doing this as long as this pandemic continues. I don’t even have to receive any ‘thank yous.’ I just want to help people “

What a wonderful man!

A bunch of helping hands …

A Warwick, Rhode Island, police officer just reminded the world that while the coronavirus pandemic can claim lives, shut down cities, and change life as we know it, it can’t take away kindness.

The Warwick Police Department received a call on Friday night from a community service organization alerting authorities that an 87-year-old woman had no food in her home.  Officer Jill Marshall, who works with the department’s Community Services Division, volunteered to conduct a welfare check and found the elderly woman, who was living with her disabled son, had nothing to eat.  Officer Marshall offered to go food shopping for the family — and their cat.

Marshall visited a local grocery store, which donated $25 to help cover the cost of groceries. When other people in the store heard of what Marshall was doing, they donated enough money to buy $100 worth of food for the family.

“I was ready to use my own money to help them but the generosity of those shopping and Shaw’s (grocery store) paid for her list. I would have never left them and make them wait for food. That’s just not humane.”

See, folks … there are still people out there doing good things to help others.  They just don’t make quite as much noise as all the assholes do, so maybe we don’t notice them as much.

46 thoughts on “Good People Doing Good Things — Quietly”

  1. Hello Jill. Grand post. The post of people helping to feed others, especially kids hits me hard and I am always glad to see them even if it is hard. See I was one of those kids who often was without food, I was hospitalized once for malnutrition. Suffered clinical death. Most people do not realize how bad hunger is in the US. Thank you for highlighting that. Hopefully the Biden administration will move to reduce the income inequality and find a way to at least keep the people fed. Hugs

    Liked by 1 person

    • The number of children in this country who go to bed hungry at night is astounding. I’m so sorry for what you went through … and proud of you for overcoming it, for rising above your abusive childhood and becoming the man you are today. Glad you liked the post!!!

      Liked by 1 person

  2. Pingback: reblogging from Jill: Good People Doing Good Things — Quietly — Filosofa’s Word | ShiraDest: toward The Four Freedoms for All Human Beings

    • Thank you, Scott! I’m glad you enjoyed the ‘good people’ this week! While I would love to do a second good people post, right now the news and the upcoming election take precedence. However … I’ll make you an offer. If you will write a weekly ‘good people’ post to supplement mine, I will publish yours every Saturday! Interested?

      Like

  8. Pingback: Good People Doing Good Things — Quietly — Filosofa’s Word | Rethinking Life

  9. Thanks Jill, some mornings are really tough…why bother getting out of PJs, where’s the motivation to put one leg in front of the other and move on with the day? Your Wednesday post helps me smile at the world. Hugs

    Liked by 1 person

    • I know, my friend … oh how well I know. Some mornings I just ask “Why bother?”, and some nights when I go to bed, I wish not to wake in the morning. But, I do wake and I keep putting one foot in front of the other, reminding myself that I have a responsibility. I’m so happy if my good people posts help you smile, even if only briefly. Hugs ‘n love, my friend.

      Liked by 1 person

  11. Jill, well done. I like Aesop’s quote. As for corporations, in the book “Built to Last,” one of the tenets of the nineteen historically successful companies is a theme called “Be more than profits.” These companies and their employees focused on doing good deeds in the communities they lived in. People liked working for a company that allowed them time (and sometimes provided resources) to invest in their kids’ schools, places of worship, food pantries, community gardens, etc.

    Was it entirely altruistic? Of course not. But, if they walked the talk, turnover declined, productivity went up and the good will helped. When Johnson and Johnson had the Tylenol tampering incident, their community good will helped them weather the storm and the acted quickly to address the concern.

    These are the companies people want to work for. Keith

    Liked by 2 people

    • Thanks Keith! Yes, Aesop’s quote is one I use frequently for it is so apropos.

      You’re right … companies are going to try to make a profit, it’s the ‘nature of the beast’, but when they include their people, when they treat them as having great value, then I give them kudos. I once told a boss in a manufacturing plant that he needed to understand that his greatest asset was his employees, not that piece of equipment he just paid a million dollars for! Few employers listen when we tell them these things … a few do, and those few deserve a thumbs up.

      Like

      • Jill, that is why when they do what you suggest, it is newsworthy, as they stand out. The owner in Washington who took a pay cut to keep everyone working, the company in Germany that sought out people when they had to make cuts to get shared buy-in and everyone cut their hours to keep people employed, and the CEO of Alcoa who insisted on making Alcoa the safest place to work. Keith

        Liked by 1 person

  13. Pingback: Re-blog: Good People Doing Good Things — Quietly by Jill Dennison – 🐝 The Bee Writes…

    • In the grand scheme of things, I still think that most people are good and care about others. Most days it doesn’t seem that way, but I think it is so … at least, I hope it is.

      Like

Comments are closed.