The cast of A Year of Giving: Patrick Miller, Devon DuPay, Reed Sandridge, Steve Langley. Photo: Timothy Sharpe
It was the fifth and final night of A Year of Giving at the 2012 Fringe Festival. We sold out the day before and had several people trying to get tickets at the door – unfortunately they were turned away.
The performance went very well. I was really happy to that my friend Anthony from Day 67 was in the audience! That being said, the evening was a bit sad in that the show was coming to an end. A lot of hard work, time, energy and heart went into bringing this production to the stage and I am very thankful for all of those who were a part of that.
On this final evening, I gave my $10 to a woman seated near the back of the audience. I picked her because she kept looking straight ahead when I went into the audience…you know the type that is saying, “Please don’t pick me.” I actually like to choose them! Well, instead of me telling you how it happened, I am going to let Dale S. Brown, my $10 recipient that evening, tell you through her words that she so kindly sent to me via email. Here you go.
I met today’s recipient at Chik-fil-A in Pasadena, TX, while going through the drive-thru with Mom and Jack. Have you ever had their chicken sandwich? If an investor had approached me about a new restaurant whose feature item was a fried chicken breast with three pickles on a buttered bun, I would have laughed them out of the room. Now, I probably single-handedly keep the one on Fairmont Parkway in business. They’re sooooo good. And they make great iced tea; lemon, no sugar.
Two days in a row, to waking up with more snow on the ground! I know, I live in New England so I should expect it. I do expect it, but to expect it and to like it are two very different things. I am not complaining though. After going to school in upstate New York (Oswego) and seeing snow fall for eighteen straight days one year, I am definitely not complaining. Besides, pitchers and catchers show up for spring training in a little over a month. I didn’t ask today’s recipient, AJ if he was a baseball fan, but you’ll see, at least his heart was in the right place.
He preferred not to have his picture taken, but when asked what he was going to do with the $10, he mentioned his girlfriend’s birthday was coming up quickly and he wanted to get her a necklace she had seen at Claire’s. The necklace apparently had little elephants on it and she was a fan of elephants. I just saw a movie trailer for Water for Elephants recently (a really good book) and wonder if he’ll take her to see it? I took a couple of pictures of the place and was on my way.
My third day of this journey gave me my first rejection, but life always takes a strange turn. I began the day with the intent to give the $10 to a person in Southfield, Massachusetts, who I had yet to meet. Southfield is a very small town in the Berkshires and I was there for the day assisting a friend on a 500+ acre plot of land that is home to a YMCA Summer Camp called 
I went in, placed my order and spotted another guy also waiting for his order. I made my introduction and found myself feeling pretty good as this was the 4th time I had said it, and thought I had it pretty down to a science now. When the part came to ask if he would accept the $10, he asked if he could ask me a question. Uh-oh, I thought, here it comes. If I don’t answer it correctly, he’ll say no! But the question was pretty simple. He asked why the unemployed part? I interpreted that meaning wouldn’t it be easier if an employed person would be the one doing the giving? And I think I was correct in my interpretation. My response was a couple of reasons and I gave them with the caveat that it was from my perspective. I felt as an unemployed person, it was a shock at first and I was okay with it being that way right in the beginning, but after the newness wore off, it felt like I wasn’t a contributing member of society anymore. This type of giving was helping me back in the fold. I had something to offer someone. The second reason was that it just feels good when you’re giving.
I asked what 2020 was and with his accent I didn’t quite get it. After going home and a quick Google search, I discovered it was actually called 
So today starts my week and as I told Reed I would do it back in December, I had a good amount of time to prepare for it. I thought a good way to at least start a conversation with someone, was to follow Reed’s lead and come in with a business card. So a couple of drafts later, I came up with this.
This exquisite 30-year-old woman, whose own Native American Indian ancestry is both Lushoolsled and Kostalish, has been an integral part of Daybreak for 10 years. She began as a lead teacher and then spread her wings into other education related horizons – and of course – storytelling. The center’s Headstart program embraces 108 children – 42 are Native American. The other 66 kids complete the tapestry, coming from an eclectic, precious mixture of cultural backgrounds: East African, Spanish, Caucasian, Black, Asian and more. Suddenly I wanted to be a kid in the Headstart program at Daybreak!
Year of Giving 