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Day 306 – John D

Posted in Food & Beverage, tagged $10, dad, DC, Dupont, family, health, homeless, homelessness, night, washington on October 22, 2010| 4 Comments »

Nora's holds the distinction of being the first certified organic restaurant in the US.

Sorry for the delay in posting this week. I appreciate all of your emails checking to see if I was ok! I have been swamped at work, so I got behind.

Day 306 was was my father’s 70^th birthday. We took him to a restaurant near my house called Nora’s which has the distinction of being the first certified organic restaurant in the United States.

After our delicious dinner my father went with me to search the neighborhood for a $10 recipient. Just a few blocks away along Connecticut Avenue we spotted a man inching his way down the street. We would later find out that his slow gait was due to broken ankles and broken knees.

I stopped him and asked if he would accept the $10. From beneath his black hooded rain poncho he spoke softly saying that he would accept my gift. I proceeded to ask him a few questions but he said he was not comfortable answering any personal questions and did not want any photographs taken of him. He offered to give them money back and I explained that the money was his to keep.

He was an African-American man who I suspected was in his 60s. despite his slow walk he appeared in good health. He had a stark white beard that seemed to block the words from getting out. “I also have a dislocated organ,” he told us pointing to the left side of his abdomen. Neither of us asked him to explain further.

He clenched the $10 in his worn hands. I could see the dirt that had settled underneath his long fingernails.

My dad and me at Nora's celebrating his 70th birthday! (photo: Ryan Sandridge)

“You can call me John I guess,” he told me in a way that I knew that wasn’t his real name. John said I looked familiar and I thought for a moment that I might have already given my $10 to him earlier in the year, but after I spoke with him for a few minutes I was sure that I had not met him before.

I told him that it was Dad’s 70^th birthday. “He’s got good skin,” he said in response. He also said something about my father’s eyes. I think he said that they were still well aligned, but Dad thinks he said that they were “alive.” In either case, he made some nice comments about my dad.

John says that he tries to write every day. “Well, when it’s warm I come right here and write on these benches but when it gets cold I find a place indoors.” I asked what he liked to write about and he explained that he had a book about verbs and he practiced making sentences where he put the verbs together with various statements.

He was carrying two plastic bags that contained some personal items. He showed us bottles of multi-vitamins and Ensure. “I take 3 multi-vitamins a day; I usually try to take them six hours apart however yesterday I took all three at the same time.” He went on to say that every other day he drank a small bottle of Ensure. “When I have a little extra money I usually spend it on vitamins or maybe a book.”

Since the conversation had circled back to money I decided to ask him what he planned on using the $10 for. “To survive,” he said. “I’m just going to use it to survive.”

The 42 bus rolled up and he said he was getting on. He gave us both a fist bump and started inching his way toward the bus. It took him a few minutes, but sure enough he got on and the bus pulled away disappearing into the traffic at Dupont Circle.

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Day 292 – Donville R.

Posted in Food & Beverage, tagged $10, coffee, DC, Dupont Circle, family, jobs, night, washington on October 18, 2010| 2 Comments »

Thanks for all the warm wishes about what would have been my mother’s 67^th birthday yesterday. Your emails and comments here and on Facebook meant a lot to me. Thanks!

Donville loves his job at Starbucks! (photo: Reed)

The Starbucks to people ratio in DC is off the charts. I got to walk nearly eight blocks to get to a grocery store, and not even a very good one, but coffee, no problem, they’re everywhere! Too bad I don’t drink much coffee because there are six Starbucks within a five block radius of my house. Donville works at one of them.

I ran into him while he was on his break. Originally from Long Island, New York, Donville has recently started there as a barista. “I love it,” he told me. “The best thing is connecting with people and building a relationship with the community.”

His father is Dominican so Donville grew up speaking some Spanish. “It’s helpful when you can speak to someone who is not comfortable speaking in English,” he said.

Donville came to DC to study at Howard University, but after a year and a half he decided to put things on hold for a while. Although he doesn’t have any family here he seems to like DC quite a bit. Speaking of family, he told me that he was going to put my $10 toward a trip home to New York to see his family during the holidays. “I’d actually like to go home for both Thanksgiving and Christmas,” he said. Hopefully my $10 will help. The bus ticket can be pretty cheap – just ask Davie from Day 5 who after receiving my $10 went straight to catch a $24 bus to NYC.

Donville would like your help in locating his brother who was put up for adoption at the age of four. (photo: Reed)

One of eight brothers and sisters, Donville shared something very personal about his family with me. Unfortunately his parents were not financially able to support the entire family and were forced to give one of his siblings up for adoption when he was young. His little brother who was named Elyshawaun should be 14 years old now. He and his family do not have contact with him any more. Donville would like your help to locate either his brother or his biological father, William Gafney (or Gaffney), who also should know the whereabouts of his brother. He didn’t know what Elyshawaun’s last name was, but they were both last known to be in Brooklyn. If you remember Victor from day 139 you might recall that he shared with me that he had never met his mother. I was pleasantly amazed when a blog follower, Linnie, used her genealogy skills and tracked his mother down! Wow…that was amazing! Hopefully we can find young Elyshawaun!

My ten dollar gift to Donville went toward a $7 pack of Newports. I am always a little disappointed when the money gets spent on cigarettes. But it is his choice. I told him that my mother died of heart disease and was a long time smoker. He said that he had only been smoking for about a year and planned on quitting some time. “But just not now,’ he said. He didn’t know where the other $3 would get spent…who knows, maybe he will read this and give us an update! Maybe he has quit smoking by now. You can do it Donville!

Check back tomorrow for my first blog post from my recent trip to Chicago!

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Day 291 – Jacy D.

Posted in Donation, tagged $10, college football, Maryland, MD, mom, night, nonprofits, plays, restaurants, Rockville, sports, Terps, theatre on October 17, 2010| 2 Comments »

Lenora "Ann" Reed Sandridge 10/17/43-12/15/06

67 years ago today my mother was born in the small coal mining town of Richlands, Virginia. She died 3 years and 307 days ago. An extremely generous woman herself, she was a tremendous inspiration for the Year of Giving. This entire journey is dedicated to her, but I want to take a special moment today to remember her and the joy that she added to so many peoples’ lives. I love you Mom!

A shot of Jacy and friends through the window. (photo: Reed)

Two weeks ago I went to see Neil Simon’s California Suite at the Rockville Little Theatre. I knew several people involved with the production so it was a lot of fun and they did a great job. After the show my friend Pat who directed the first act invited me to join him and some other friends and cast members at Clyde’s Tower Oaks Lodge. It was there that I gave my $10 to Jacy, a good friend of Pat and his wife Melanie.

Jacy donated his $10 to Silver Spring Stage. (photo: Reed)

Jacy, a married 34-year-old nonprofit attorney also has a passion for the arts. He’s been involved with community theatre for the past seven years he tells me. He mostly writes and directs shows but also can be seen on stage from time to time. “I just finished my first gig as a producer,” he says. “Not sure I’ll do that again though…it’s a lot of work and I didn’t enjoy it that much.”

He’s on the board at Silver Spring Stage and said that he planned on donating the $10 to the theatre company.

Jacy is a huge Terps fan. He graduated from the University of Maryland and admits that he is a die-hard fan. When I told him about the Lend a Hand section he laughed and said, “Can you find someone who can fix the college games so that Maryland wins?” He was joking but if I knew the right person I get the feeling he would be ok if I could make that happen! Well, I don’t, so no luck Jacy. I am going to see them play in a few weeks and although not as good as fixing the game I promise to cheer loudly…and it’s an away game so I will be taking some personal risk in doing so.

Jacy also follows pro football. “I’m getting killed though in fantasy football!” He looks down and shakes his head as he regrettably says “I drafted Larry Fitzgerald…he’s just not producing.”

This photo is a little out of focus but it's a good shot of Jacy. (photo: Reed)

Later he did come up with something for the Lend a Hand section. He would like every single person reading the Year of Giving to go see a live theatre production this year. I second that!

Oh, by the way, for those who have read all the blogs you might remember the Tower Oaks Lodge from Day 88 when I met Hans. I asked for him but they said he had transferred to the Reston location. I sent him an email earlier this week but haven’t heard back yet. He was a good guy.

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Day 290 – Ximena C.

Posted in Gave the money to someone else, tagged $10, DC, family, fundraising, helping others, Latin America, Mexico, music, night, restaurants, singing, Spanish, travel, washington on October 16, 2010| 1 Comment »

Some of you might recall that two of my recipients are celebrating a very special day today. October 16^th is the anniversary of Bob (Day 251) and Michelle’s (Day 277) sobriety. Bob has been sober 24 years and Michelle eight. I am so proud of them both and am thankful to have met them through my Year of Giving!

A VW Beatle sits almost completely underwater as flood victims make their way through town by boat. (Photo: Alfredo Estrella, AFP)

Today I am going to tell you about a fascinating young woman. But first let me give you a little background on the circumstances that I met Ximena. In September parts of Mexico were devastated when torrential downpours caused disastrous flooding in the states of Oaxaca and Veracruz. As you might know, I used to live in Mexico and have many friends there today. Fortunately everyone I know is safe, however, hundreds of thousands of Mexicans were affected by the relentless waters. In September a group here in DC put together a fundraiser to collect money to send to needy families in Mexico. My neighbor Paulina, who is Mexican, told me about the event and I stopped by to donate some money.

The fundraiser was held at Lupe Cantina, 1214 18th Street, NW (photo: Reed)

In addition to my donation to the fundraiser, I made another “donation” of $10 to Ximena. She is a performing artist who was preparing to sing that evening at the event. I found a moment when she was not busy and approached her and explained the Year of Giving concept.

Ximena talking to a friend. (photo: Reed)

Ximena is 34 years old and hails from the Mexico City. This talented young singer caught my attention when she shared with me part of her life where she spent four years living on a bus. That’s right. At the time she was living in Austin, Texas when she met up with a guy from DC who had driven a bus down to Texas. The bus, called “Destino 2000”, would later turn into the home for several individuals. The core group was about four people. They loaded up and started driving south into Mexico. But they didn’t stop there; they kept on going to Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, etc. “We worked everywhere,” she explained in Spanish, “to get enough money to get us to the next place.”

Ximena, originally from Mexico City, lived on a bus for four years. (photo: Reed)

Her experience on the bus taught her many things. “When you live here you take many things for granted,” she told me. Sometimes the most basic necessities presented challenges. “Without drinking water you can not survive,” she added.

There was one common thread that sustained the nomadic group during their journey: music. “The music was always the vehicle that opened doors for us and sustained us,” Ximena said.

Last May she received her degree in music education. She smiled and said, “It took me 14 years to do it, but I made it!” Although she currently does not have a job she says that she is fortunate enough to pick up small projects here and there. When I invited her to the year-end celebration in December, she said she would not be able to attend because she would be in Texas in the area that is made up of Juarez on the Mexican side and El Paso on the US side. “I am organizing some Fandangos in response to the violence that that area has suffered.” I thought that I met Ximena before the alleged murder of David Hartley by Mexican pirates, but after checking it was in fact the same day that I met Ximena. As a side note, something seems strange about that case…I’m not sure we are getting the full story.

“When you live here you take many things for granted.” - Ximena (photo: Reed)

Anyway, being out of work you would think that Ximena would use the money to help pay for her rent or get some groceries but that was not the case. “I’m going to send the money to my ‘papa’” she told me. “He doesn’t work any more and I haven’t had very much to send him lately.” I thought that was very touching. Our parents do so much for us as children that it is nice to be able to help them when they are in need.

I unfortunately had another event that evening and had to leave before Ximena performed. Hopefully I will get another chance.

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Day 289 – Martha N.

Posted in Something for others, tagged $10, baseball, DC, night, sports, stadiums, washington on October 15, 2010| 1 Comment »

On the last day of the Nationals season, I decided to buy some cheap tickets and catch the final nine innings before the team hibernated for the winter. Although the Nats lost 7-1 to the Phillies, there was something magical about the game. Watching dads hold the tiny hands of their children as they took one last look at the field until next spring. Teary-eyed fans hugging stadium staff as they left. It reminded me of a quote by legendary baseball slugger Rogers Hornsby who once said, “People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.”

Martha has been an usher for the Nats for three seasons. (photo: Reed)

Martha, a lower level usher, was no exception. Fan after fan said goodbye and wished her well until they met again the following season. I decided she should be my $10 recipient of the day!

This is Martha’s third year ushering for the Nats. In fact it is a family affair. Her husband and son also work at the stadium. In an email that she sent me later Martha told me, “My son is a special education graduate, and loves his job there. The Nationals are by far the best employer he has ever had.” Wow, that says a lot about the Nationals organization. Bravo to them!

It was a bit of a challenge to speak with Martha because there were so many fans who wanted to say goodbye. On top of that, Martha was coordinating a picnic for stadium staff and she was supposed to make some final plans with other colleagues…but that didn’t happen she later told me in her email. My $10 came in handy though as she put it toward the food that she was preparing for the picnic. “You’re providing the ingredients to make a multitude of my famous brownies,” she wrote.

I honestly think I was the last person in the stadium. They'd turned all the lights off and there was not a soul in sight. I thought about doing a lap around the bases, but I just found an open exit and got out before I got locked in there!

Before she had to run, she did mention that her family was going through some uncertain times. Her husband is transitioning between a steady paycheck as a teacher to a commission based arrangement providing financial services and planning for special needs families. Special needs families have unique financial challenges that if not thought out properly can create tremendous financial burdens and stress on the family. I applaud his courage to make this transition and help other families plan for the future.

Martha had to run…but as I mentioned earlier, she did send me a very kind email. She mentioned that in addition to her husband and son, there was a woman who carpooled with them to and from the stadium. She shared this at the end of her email. “Our cohort in the carpool immediately said she had heard of you, read an article about your “Year of Giving”, now it’s my turn.”

I hope to see Martha and her family at my year-end celebration and then again at the Nats home opener on March 31^st against the Braves! Let’s go Nats!

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Day 288 – Eric J.

Posted in Alcohol, Something for others, tagged $10, Adam's Morgan, DC, night, sports, washington on October 13, 2010| 1 Comment »

Last night I stayed up to watch the first few miners get rescued from the Chilean mine where they have been trapped 629 meters below ground for almost 70 days!

That is such a long time! I try to keep that in mind when I remember that there are only about 70 days, less actually, to go until the end of my year-long journey. Time has gone by so fast! I am still interviewing potential venue locations for the year-end celebration. It is exciting…there are so many creative possibilities for the culmination of this amazing year. I will keep you posted!

Team Rockstar Lifestyle trying to get out of a tough inning. That's Johnny from WAKA in the bottom left hand corner of the photo. (photo: Reed)

It was beautiful the other night and I decided to go for a long walk and find someone to give my $10 to. I came across a sports field called Marie Reed Park. Good name! There were people gathering and I knew something was going to happen. It seemed that I was the only one not wearing a uniform of some sort. I grabbed a little real estate on the bleachers and waited to see what unfolded.

It turns out I was at a kickball game. I was literally the only one who was not playing…except for two guys with some red jerseys who were talking with a woman in a white blouse. More about those guys later.

"Your not going to believe this, but I was just thinking about you two days ago!" Eric told me when I introduced myself. (photo: Reed)

I finally got the courage to go over to a guy who was sitting an inning out. I didn’t want to bother someone while they were trying to win a game, but I forced myself to go meet someone. His name was Eric. As soon as I explained what I was doing he told me that he had heard about the Year of Giving! “You’re not going to believe this but I was just thinking about you two days ago!” he told me. That’s pretty cool….the word is spreading thanks to all of you!

This is Eric’s second season playing kickball in Washington’s chapter of the World Adult Kickball League (WAKA). In fact, he plays on two teams. The night I met him he was playing for a team called the Rockstar Lifestyle who was playing against the Ball Busters. The cool thing about kickball is that just about everyone can play. Having said that, it was clear that many of the players meant business.

Eric used his $10 to buy a pitcher of beer for him and his team to celebrate their victory. (photo: Reed)

Eric tells me that although he likes kickball, his true passion is in running marathons. The 28-year-old has run nine marathons already! He’s preparing for his next one right now which will be the New York City Marathon in just 25 days. He says that he has seen some crazy things while running. “One time I was running a marathon with my sister in LA and we saw people selling drugs along the side of the road.”

Eric took care of things in left field to help his team win. (photo: Reed)

The game was close and the coach tapped Eric to hit the field. Before heading out to left field, Eric told me that if I wanted to know more about the entire WAKA league that one of the founders of the organization was standing to my right wearing a red jersey. While Eric tried to help the Rockstars edge out the Ballbusters I went over to introduce myself to Johnny LeHane. He helped found the kickball league back in 1998 in hopes to create a social activity that everyone could participate in. “We wanted something that would have an almost fraternity feel,” Johnny told me. I actually think I met Johnny back in 1998 at Kelly’s Irish Times, an Irish pub that was the first sponsor of WAKA. I say that because Johnny worked at AOL and so did my brother and a bunch of friends back then and I recall that I went to a kickball happy hour in 1998 or 1999. I keep forgetting to ask my brother who he knew from WAKA back then, maybe he remembers. Anyway, in case you are shrugging your shoulders at the idea of organized kickball, be advised that they currently over 3,000 teams in over 300 leagues nation wide and employ a staff of 30. It was cool to meet Johnny, who was in town from NYC where he lives and continues to work as part of the management team for WAKA.

Rockstar Lifestyle won 5-4! (photo: Reed)

Eric trotted back in to join his team as they had one last opportunity to win the game. It was close, but he and his team managed to pull out a 5-4 win over the Ball Busters! I was great to watch him and his team celebrate the victory. He said they were going to a bar called Town where he would buy a pitcher of beer for the team with the $10. Cheers!

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Day 286 – Ryan F. and Samantha S.

Posted in Donation, tagged $10, Cleveland Park, college, DC, night, nonprofits, sports, university, washington on October 11, 2010| 1 Comment »

Giant at the corner of Wisconsin and Newark. (photo: Reed)

I was in Cleveland Park here in DC at the Giant grocery store on Wisconsin Avenue. I hadn’t given away my money yet and it was getting late. I had had some wine earlier that day on a picnic and was honestly not looking forward to giving my $10 away.

At the entrance of the grocery store I found Ryan and Samantha. Ryan is a 25-year-old graduate of the University of Virginia. Samantha, 22, is also a graduate of UVA. They were browsing the movie titles at the automatic video rental machine.

Ryan and Samantha are both runners. (photo: Reed)

Both of them ran track and field at UVA. They ran a variety of distances: 3,000, 5,000 and 10,000 meters. I think it was Samantha who said she also ran steeple chase races which consist of five barriers, one of which is a water barrier.

“Ryan is a really good runner,” Samantha said. “He just ran a race yesterday…8,000 meters.” For those of you who are metric challenged, that’s just shy of five miles. “So how did you do?” I asked. Ryan was quite humble in telling me that he actually won the race. I guess Samantha was right, he’s pretty good.

The couple decided to donate their $10 to the UVA Athletics Foundation. Coincidentally I am planning to visit UVA in the coming weeks with my cousin and his daughter…who I guess is my second cousin or cousin once removed or something like that. Anyway, she is a high school senior in Denver and is visiting potential colleges. When they come out to visit UVA I am going to join them and we have tickets to the football game that weekend, so indirectly that $10 might end up benefiting me while I am there. Work with me folks…use your imagination.

Ryan and Samantha donated their $10 to the UVA Athletics Foundation. (photo: Reed)

Anyway, some friends of Samantha and Ryan were waiting for them so I wrapped things up. I almost forgot to take a photo and ran out into the parking lot and snapped a quick photo of them.

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Day 285 – Illi L.

Posted in Something for themself, tagged $10, bizarre, DC, Dupont, mental illness, night, washington on October 11, 2010| 4 Comments »

This is Maggie who received my $10 on 10-10-10...her story coming soon on Day 300! (photo: Reed)

Hopefully you participated in the 10-10-10 Give a Stranger 10 Bucks Day yesterday…if not, why not go ahead and do it today. It is a three-day weekend after all for many folks, so I’ll let it slide!

Today’s recipient ranks up there with one of the more memorable people that I have met.

You might remember back on Day 245 I came across a rather odd individual walking around making extremely loud cat meowing noises. On that day he was walking around with a crazed look in his eyes as he meowed. Really loud! Occasionally he would turn 180 degrees from his slow sloth-like walk and bark something like, “Can’t you find the mice?”

So exactly 40 days later I am walking around town when I hear this loud banging noise. I couldn’t quite place it but it sounded like someone was banging a wrench or something against a bunch of steel pipes. Not seeing where the noise was coming from, I went along my business and went into a café to pick up some dinner for that evening. When I left I walked across the street and found “Crazy Cat Man” sitting on the sidewalk with a series of bottles in front of him.

Illi sits playing tunes on a variety of bottles in front of a DC Starbucks. (photo: Reed)

Although he definitely made me uncomfortable the first time I encountered him, I felt a little better this time since he was in front of Starbucks and there were several people who were nearby “enjoying” his free concert.

I asked him what his name was and he replied something that sounded like “Illi Lixsis.” I asked him to spell it and he said that there was “not a proper spelling in our language.” So he grabbed my pen and notebook and began to write his name. To me it resembles something closer to a hieroglyphic than a name. He even included a short written narrative of the composition of the name. In the photograph below you can see the symbol he drew and the explanation he included around it. I’m going to call him Illi.

Illi said he enjoyed playing beautiful music on the bottles. He pointed to his “snare drum” which was an aluminum can. He also had a rattle, made of an empty Nestle water bottle with coins inside, a Perrier bottle, and a variety of beer and wine bottles. “This is the magical wand of Jehovah,” he explained pointing to metal rod.

New England Statesman Daniel Webster (1782-1852)

Our conversation took a path of its own. Illi’s thought process sometimes was erratic but I just went with the flow. “What you are doing is kind of like Daniel Webster – only with words,” Illi suggests. “But Webster was into bestiality.” How does he know that I’m not into bestiality? That was a joke! Seriously, I didn’t know how to respond so I just stayed quiet.

Illi changed the subject. “I grew up in New Hampshire. My 6^th grade teacher, Mr. Courier, had been in the CIA during the Carter administration. He was originally a nuclear physicist, but as an agent he was forced to learn all kinds of things. He spoke several languages and …” I am not sure what else he said about Mr. Courier but he related to me at some point how he, I mean Illi now, was into linguistics, computers, visual arts, electrical engineering, etc.

He had a particular interest in necromancy. He described it as an ability that allowed the dead to pass on to the next servitude of life. “Anything you do,” he said, “is then used by your ancestors as a means to get into the next life…but many people get captured.” I probed a little more about what he was referring to but didn’t understand his response. He did show me his birth certificate though during this exchange. I didn’t catch his last name, but his birth given first name is Mark.

Photo of Illi's rendition of his name. He wrote this in my notebook. (photo: Reed)

Illi is well educated, he certainly knows a lot about certain subjects. His way of communicating it is unique and proved challenging for me to follow. He talked about palindromes, his intense fear of many things in the world and his dislike of Stephen King novels. He also is a big fan of animation. His favorite TV show, a 90s MTV show called Æon Flux, and favorite movie, Jim Henson’s 1982 Dark Crystal, are both animated.

Another random factoid he shared was that his brother Dave sold his 26,000 issue comic book collection to pay for his college. Interestingly enough, Illi said he memorized every title that his brother owned. Sounds a little like Joey’s savantism.

As for the $10, the 35-year-old said he was going to “take a break.” Take some time off from his government job. Oh yeah, and he didn’t want me to take his photograph because of his government work. “Photos are stupid anyway,” he said. I had taken one photograph from a distance before I walked up to him that I have included here. You can not see his face and the photo came out quite blurry due to low light and my sub-par photographic skills.

Like I said earlier Illi, or Mark as it may be, seems to be highly intelligent in some areas. He’s socially awkward though and either is homeless or doesn’t maintain generally accepted hygiene. He sat the entire time in a yoga-like stance with his bare feet folded up like a pretzel. I’m glad I stopped, but I am not sure that I connected with him. I would love to hear his perspective of our encounter.

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Day 283 – Chavon B.

Posted in Gave the money to someone else, tagged $10, children, DC, family, foster care, kids, night, restaurants, washington on October 9, 2010| 8 Comments »

Busboys & Poets at 14th and V Streets (photo: Reed)

I decided to go over and grab dinner at Busboys and Poets and see if I could talk with someone about holding my year-end celebration there. They gave me the name of a person to talk to and I followed up later via email. Coincidentally today someone called me back from their organization. They were not interested in hosting the event unless I was going to pay a five-figure amount which is simply not possible and completely outside of the spirit of the Year of Giving. So, if you know of a good venue in Washington, DC that can hold 200+ people and would like a ton of in-kind national and local media, let me know.

Chavon paid her $10 forward. (photo: Reed)

While I was eating I met the person sitting to my right: Chavon. A foster care case worker by day, she was enjoying a respite with friends after a long stressful week. She works with a total of seven kids right now; two of which are siblings. She tells me about each one of them; their ages: 5, 6, 7, 13, 17, 18 and 19. “It’s hard work,” she says exhaling. “But you have to also let people go through their own journey.”

Busboys & Poets gets its name from American poet Langston Hughes. (photo: Reed)

She says she has always been a person naturally oriented to help others. “It’s a passion,” she says with a smile. “You know, every time someone gives you something – even a dollar – it means something.

She says that she has given each one of her kids a notebook that they are to write down things that she tasks them with. “I have to stay on top of them,” she tells me with a slightly more disciplinarian demeanor. “I think that I will see how each one does on their assignments for next week and I’m going to give the $10 to the one who makes the most progress.”

Her two friends that were with her, Carla and Marques, spoke very highly of their friend. “She is a good listener and she’s very honest, brutally honest,” Carla says. Her friend Marques called her “hilarious” and said that she was also very sensitive.

As I left Chavon put a smile on my face when she said, “Reed, this has made my day!”

"Every time somebody gives you something - even a dollar - it means something." - Chavon (photo: Reed)

On Wednesday I got a note from Chavon saying that she had given the $10 to a new client of hers: a 13-year-old girl. “She was very respectful and compliant with the things I tasked her with,” she wrote in her email. “She was able to purchase her own breakfast without having to depend on anyone else.” Getting her email made my day. Thanks Chavon!

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Day 280 – Read H.

Posted in Something for others, tagged $10, DC, Dupont Circle, helping others, night, nonprofits, past recipients, public health, volunteering, washington on October 7, 2010| 3 Comments »

What are the chances that I choose a guy named Reed (or Read as today’s recipient spells his name) to receive my $10? It appears to be 1/280!

Garrett making music at Conn. Ave and Q Street in NW DC. (photo: Reed)

It was a beautiful night and I took a walk over to Dupont Circle to see who I would find. On the way over there I saw Garrett shaking his tambourine and singing gospels. He seemed happy to see me and showed me his toothless smile. I told him I had some more clothes for him that Meghan from Pennsylvania and Rachel from Florida had sent. I asked if he was going to be there for a while, because if so, I would go back home and get the clothes and bring them to him. Now you got to understand that Garrett’s track record for being where he says he is going to be is mediocre at best. “Oh, I will definitely be here tonight until 10:00pm,” Garrett told me as I checked my watch. This time he was good to his word and was still there when I got back around 8:00pm.

He seemed very happy to get all the items. Combined Meghan and Rachedl sent him a pair of jeans, a hat, three shirts, two pants, a belt and a sweatshirt – everything was brand new! Meghan and Rachel, you both rock! I’m going to post a video of him receiving the items and singing a special song for Meghan and Rachel on the Year of Giving’s Facebook page later tonight.

Read was having a coffee and sending a message on his phone when I found him. (photo: Reed)

I left Garrett and walked over to Dupont Circle. It was a beautiful evening and there were lots of people sitting around the picturesque fountain. The soft sound of tumbling water blanketed the park. I saw Read sitting on a bench thumbing away on his phone.

When I asked if he would accept my $10, he replied, “Yeah, let me just finish sending this message and then we can talk.” He finished and chatted for about 30 minutes or so. “I don’t know what I will do with it,” Read said. “I am lucky to be in a position to not have to worry too much about money.”

Read is no stranger to helping others out. (photo: Reed)

Read is a former AmeriCorps member who has been practicing giving for some time. His AmeriCorps service took him to Jacksonville, FL where he worked on securing healthcare coverage for children who came from families who earned slightly above the cut-off to qualify for Medicare. He also told me about some volunteer work he has done with half-way houses.

Originally from northeast Texas, Read completed his Master’s degree in Public Health at Boston University. He has been here in DC for about 18 months. “DC and Jacksonville have some things in common believe it or not,” Read related to me. “Both have strong dichotomies when it comes to the rich and poor.” Furthermore he astutely points out the transient nature of DC, “Nobody’s here long enough to pay attention to the local issues.”

Read is currently working with communities here in DC. One project has to do with a local junior high school baseball team which is underfunded. He plans to volunteer his time in order to help the team stay alive and hopefully grow. “Maybe I’ll use this $10 toward helping them,” he said.

Something Read pointed out about the $10 was interesting. “I hardly ever use paper money,” he says explaining that he prefers to use credit and bank cards. He posed an interesting question. “I wonder how the responses of the people you meet would differ if you direct deposited the money into their accounts instead of giving them cash.” I have never thought about that but Read’s got a point. People would probably use it differently. He assured me that he would not put this $10 in his account, that it would get passed on.

Read's name is also a family name. It was his father's middle name and the maiden name of his great-great aunt. (photo: Reed)

Just a little side note about the pictures I took of Read. While I was shooting the photos, a guy nearby overheard my disgust in not being able to get the correct lighting for the shot. Sven, originally from Sweden, kindly came over and leant me a hand getting my aperture and shutter speed set better to accommodate the dwindling light. Thanks Sven…that’s what it’s all about – helping one another!

By the way, I walked back by where Garrett was supposed to be until 10:00pm a good hour before that time and he was already gone. 🙂

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Day 270 – Molly R.

Posted in Cigarettes, tagged $10, DC, Dupont Circle, food, jobs, night, obama, president, smoking, washington, yogurt on September 27, 2010| 1 Comment »

It was Friday night and I wandered out around my house to look for a recipient. I don’t recall exactly what time it was, but if I had to guess I would say it was around 10:30pm.

Molly was very suspicious of my intentions at first, but she gave me a chance. (photo: Reed)

I walked over to Dupont Circle. I have probably given my $10 away at this location over 50 times. I was trying to think how I could differentiate this experience from the other 50+ times. I walked around but just didn’t see anyone that struck me. I left the circle and started heading northwest on Massachusetts Avenue. I spotted a PNC bank on my right where a young woman was withdrawing money from the ATM.

I thought to myself. She obviously needs some money, she’s at the ATM, right? Also, I thought it would somewhat of a challenge to approach someone using an ATM late at night.

Keeping about 10 feet between us, I waited until Molly finished putting away her cash and called out to her. I could tell that she felt a little threatened. “I’m not interested,” she said as she started to walk away. I asked her to just hear me out. Still keeping my distance, I gave her my pitch and tried to win her confidence. If I were in her shoes, I don’t know if I would have stopped to talk to a stranger who just saw me get money from an ATM machine late at night.

Molly told me that she just got off work from nearby Sweet Green. “I drive the Sweet Flow Mobile that goes around town,” she told me with a slight grin. Although she has only been doing this for nine months, Sweet Green has been in business since about 2007. I have eaten there. Salads and yogurt are both pretty good.

I asked her if I could ask her a few questions to which she responded, “Can I smoke a cigarette?” It’s a free world I thought, so go ahead. “I was born and raised in Silver Spring, Maryland,” she told me as she put the cigarette to her lips and lit it. She is in college studying history with a special interest in Jewish studies and the holocaust.

She told me about a backpacking trip she took across Europe and how she is planning to backpack through Asia next summer. She even traveled to Morocco with her Quaker High School.

She has an older brother who lives in London and her father is a highly regarded reporter for the Washington Post. She shared a story about a time when her father was on the Jon Stewart show and she got to go with him to the studio. I actually watched one of the clips online and found it pretty interesting.

We walked around the building where we met and she showed me the Sweet Flow Mobile that she drives around. Check out her special invitation for Barack Obama.

I asked her what she was going to do with th $10. “I’ll probably get a pack of cigarettes,” she told me. I explained that she would be the sixth person to use the money for cigarettes. My mother was a smoker for many years and died of heart disease at a fairly young age. That on top of the fact that I think it is kind of a disgusting habit always makes me cringe a little internally when someone chooses to buy cigarettes with the money. But that is her prerogative. She shrugged her shoulders and said that one day she hopes to quit, but not right now. Molly shared that her parents had actually offered her $500 to quit. “I said no,” the 20-year-old told me, “Today, there is no amount of money that would make me quit.” Wow, for anyone who thinks it’s easy to quit smoking, that statement should tell you something.

Molly said that she would be happy to take the Sweet Green Mobile to the White House for President Obama. (photo: Reed)

Before leaving I asked her where people can find the Sweet Flow Mobile. “We’re never at the same place two days in a row, but people can check out the schedule online to find us!” I said goodbye and wished her luck getting President Obama to visit her.

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Day 268 – Wayne T.

Posted in Gave the money to someone else, tagged $10, bus driver, Cleveland Park, DC, Metro, night, washington on September 24, 2010| 1 Comment »

I have received so many nice emails from people from Russia due to the media coverage that I have received there by Russia Channel One. I friend of mine who speaks Russian said the report was very well done. Spasiba!

Sometimes I find myself cutting it really close to midnight before I give my $10 away.

It was about 11:50pm and I was traveling south on Wisconsin Avenue just north of the National Cathedral. I saw a Giant supermarket on my right, but it was closed. Then I spotted a Metro bus waiting in front of the grocery store. I pulled into the parking lot and saw Wayne, a 22 year veteran of Metro, standing near his bus looking at his phone.

I met Wayne on his 47th birthday. (photo: Reed)

I jumped out of my Volkswagen and walked over to Wayne and explained what I was doing. He agreed to accept the $10 with two minutes to spare. I was lucky to catch him because he was getting ready to leave on his next run.

It turned out that it was Wayne’s birthday! I think he is the first person I have given to on their birthday. Happy 47^th Wayne! Instead of keeping the money for himself, he said that he would give the $10 to his 18-year-old daughter. “She graduated high school this year and doesn’t have a job, so she could definitely use it.”

Wayne started working for Metro because a relative of his worked there. In general he says he really likes his job, “I love helping people!” What he doesn’t care for is snow. “It’s the worst. I was lucky this year though, I was on vacation during both big storms we had.” He wasn’t so lucky though in the mid-nineties. A resident of Maryland, he said that he stayed at work for an entire week because of the snow and ice storms that hit the DC area.

Wayne just before closing the door and starting his route. (photo: Reed)

With over two decades of service, Wayne has seen a lot. “I’ve seen a lot of good people come and go; older guys who paved the way for a lot of us younger guys.” He explained that Metro upped the requirements at one point for drivers, requiring them to pass an exam which many of the veteran drivers failed. “They were good drivers too, but they couldn’t pass the test.”

I asked him about rude and unruly passengers. He says he gets all kinds of people. “Some times people are drunk and vomit on your bus,” he said shaking his head. But he just brushes that stuff off. “You know it’s all about how you choose to make your day. I don’t let it bother me.” I couldn’t agree more.

Wayne pulled away right on time. (photo: Reed)

He looked at his watch and said it was time for him to start his route. He put his phone away and stepped into the bus closing the door behind him.

Quick fact: Metro has a fleet of over 1,300 buses which provided 123.7 million rides last year. (source: Metro Facts, www.wmata.com)

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Day 266 – Barbara T.

Posted in Food & Beverage, Unknown, tagged $10, dogs, holidays, Mechanicsburg, night, pa, restaurants, travel on September 22, 2010| 2 Comments »

Barb in front of the laundromat in downtown Mechanicsburg, PA. (photo: Reed)

Day 266 was Labor Day.

I spent all day here at my dad’s house. I needed to go out and find someone to give my $10 to and he offered to join me. We were going to walk down to the downtown area of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, but his knee and back have been bothering him and he was not sure that walking down there would be a good idea. So we hopped in the car and drove over there and then walked around.

We parked in front of Dieners, a breakfast institution in this town. We walked east down Main Street, past Jo Jo’s Pizzeria, which incidentally has possibly the world’s best Italian sub, when I spotted a laundromat just past the Gingerbread Man. There were two women talking and my dad and I decided to walk up a little further to see who we find. We past the main square where Main and Market Streets come together and walked another block past Myer’s funeral home, where my mother’s funeral was held, until we arrived at Eckels Drug Store (trivia: this is where a scene from Girl Interrupted was filmed.)

Dad and I headed back toward the laundromat to give the $10 to someone there. When we got there Barb was coming out with her dog Diva.

Barb's pooch (photo: Reed)

Barb was born in Harrisburg and then moved to Shiremanstown before moving to Mechanicsburg some 45 years ago where she graduated from Mechanicsburg High School. She has three children and two step-children, 15 grandkids and one great-grandson who will be two soon. We spent a lot of time talking about her kids. In fact, she had just returned earlier that day from visiting her son down in Bel Air, Maryland.

She couldn’t decide what she was going to do with the ten dollars, but she did give me her address so I can follow up with her later and see what she decides on. When I told her that I find one person every day and I chose her for this day she said, “Wow…that is really great. It is really nice of you that you do this – not too many people would do it.”

“I love people,” the 62-year-old told me. She lit a cigarette, exhaled and went on, “I don’t have a lot of money to do things for others, but I am always volunteering my services.” She told me about a friend of hers who was going through a difficult time. Her friend, who is battling cancer, has a son in prison out near Pittsburgh who got extremely ill and is now in a coma. “I do what I can for her, sometimes just making some phone calls to let others know how she is doing.”

Barb didn't make it to Jo Jo's before they closed because she took time to talk to me. (photo: Reed)

Main Street was quite dark now and I checked my watch. It was 9pm. She was going to try to get some food at Jo Jo’s so we walked toward the restaurant that is housed in an old fire station. Unfortunately by the time we got there they had just locked the door. “I guess I will head up toward the Chinese place,” Barb said. I felt bad, had I not stopped to talk with her she would have made it in time to get her dinner at Jo Jo’s. Well, at least she had a few extra dollars for her dinner.

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Day 263 – Faith P.

Posted in Alcohol, Food & Beverage, tagged $10, dating, DC, international, music, night, politics, Spain, washington on September 19, 2010| 4 Comments »

For any Spanish speakers out there, you can see a news report on the Year of Giving by Spain’s CUATRO.

Jazz in the Garden happens every Friday night in the Summer at the National Gallery of Art's sculpture garden. (photo: Reed)

For today’s recipient we go to downtown Washington, DC on a Friday night to Jazz in the Garden; a free concert series featuring an array of jazz artists performing a range of styles—from swing to progressive to Latin—every Friday evening in the summer at the National Gallery of Art’s sculpture garden. Picture a beautiful outdoor setting with people relaxing on benches or blankets with picnic baskets while the sun sets and delightful music plays in the background. I was sure to find someone to give my $10 to here.

I found Faith, a 30-year-old government worker, standing next to the reflecting pool. She was on a date, but was kind enough to take a few minutes to learn about the Year of Giving. “I’m going to use the money to either buy some drinks tonight or possible some gelato,” she said as I placed the ten dollars in her hand.

Faith is planning a month-long celebration for her 31st birthday and calling it Faith Fest. (photo: Reed)

I asked if I could ask her some questions. “Sure, what do I care? My life is an open book.” I learned that Faith is originally from southeast Arkansas although she later moved to Little Rock. More recently she lived in Madrid for three and a half years until moving to DC about a year ago.

She is pretty funny. Most of her responses were witty and made me laugh. She told me about the previous person she dated. “I was in a charity auction where guys bid on you to raise money for the charity. So he kept bidding on me but somebody else won. He later asked me out though.”

She is a people person: part social networker part organizer. “I have never seen a city more into happy hours to benefit random causes,” she says referring to DC. She’s right, it seems that every charity and nonprofit in DC, with the exception of maybe Alcoholics Anonymous, has a happy hour once a month to raise awareness and money for their cause.

Speaking of occasions for imbibing, Faith mentions that her birthday is October 23^rd and this year she is planning Faith Fest – a month-long array of celebratory events in honor of the occasion. I think that is a great idea, why limit it to just one evening.

Spanish Eyes (photo: Reed)

I sensed a bit of an adventurous spirit in Faith and asked her to share the craziest thing she has ever done. “Oooh…” she said cooling herself with a bright red Spanish style fan, “that would be impossible for me to confess to you if you are going to put it on the internet.” She did share with me that she biked 500 miles across Spain from the Basque city of Irun along the famed Compestela trail to Santiago de Compostela.

As we were getting close to the primary election here in DC I asked her who she thought would win the mayoral race. She said she felt that Vince Gray would win. She was right too. Last Tuesday voters went to the polls and ousted current Mayor Adrian Fenty as the Democratic nominee.

Her date left some friends to come over and say hello and check out what was going on. After all, I was photographing the girl he was on a date with, so I can understand his curiosity. About the same time a security officer came by informing us that the sculpture garden was closing and that we needed to exit. On our way out Faith told me that she and her date were heading to dinner at Brasserie Beck, a great Belgian restaurant/bar.

Before leaving the couple I asked her if there was anything that she needed or wanted that YoG followers could help her out with. I got an interesting request. “Well, I have this Argentine leather coat that got left behind in Madrid and I would love it if someone would be willing to bring it to me here in DC.” So, leave Faith a message here if you or someone you know will be traveling from Madrid to Washington and willing to pick up the coat.

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Day 258 – David G.

Posted in Alcohol, Cigarettes, Food & Beverage, tagged $10, DC, Dupont Circle, family, homeless, homelessness, international, jobs, night, washington on September 14, 2010| 12 Comments »

It was just after midnight on Sunday morning. I was on my way home when I was approached by two men as I cut through shadows of Dupont Circle. As I got near the fountain, a man approached me and said that his friend wanted to talk to me. His friend, Josh, invited me to join them in a threesome! Oh my God.

They seemed harmless, but my pulse quickened nonetheless and I kept walking toward a more lit area. The two men pursued me, cornering me at the far end. I tried to change the subject and told them about my project and offered them the $10. They weren’t interested in the ten spot so I said goodbye and quickly headed home. Never a dull moment living in Dupont!

Dupont Farmer’s Market (photo by Reed)

The next morning I got up early and headed over to the Dupont Farmers Market. I weaved in and out of the various vendor stalls, the smell of lavender and coffee hit my nose, causing me to turn my head, searching for the origin of this delightful treat. I kept my eyes open for my $10 recipient too, although nobody seemed right.

I left the market and just as I crossed the street I saw David selling the Street Sense newspaper on the corner of Q and Connecticut.

David started working for Street Sense on June 13th (photo by Reed)

Originally from Western Kenya near Lake Victoria, David came to the United States in 1997. He was working in banking at the time and thought that Delaware would be a good place to learn about corporations since most companies are incorporated in the “First State.” He later moved to DC in 2000.

At first he stayed with a professor friend here in DC while he studied at Strayer University. He hoped to eventually become a doctor. “I like medicine a lot. I even used to volunteer at George Washington Hospital,” he said with a pronounced British accent. He went on to talk about genetics. “They are the key to living longer, eliminating disease, and improving intelligence.” In five years he hopes to be a medical researcher.

Like many Street Sense vendors, David is homeless. However, unlike many of the other homeless that I have met, he chooses to sleep in shelters. He currently stays at the Mitch Snyder shelter at 2^nd and D. Mitch Snyder was a homeless advocate who was the subject of a 1986 made-for-television movie starring Martin Sheen. After nine years of homelessness, David says that shelters in DC are improving. “There’s been a lot of changes that started in 2004, like installation of air conditioning, spraying for bugs, and improved services.”

More than a decade has passed since David left Kenya. He says that he misses the food. “A typical meal back home is broiled or roasted corn. We put lemon pepper on the corn and eat it with coffee or tea.”

One of six children and the only son, David has lost touch with most of his family. “The last time I saw my dad was 1985, my mom raised us.” He said he would like to know what happened to his father: Tom Nyamongo. “I know that he went to Harvard in the 1980s, but he had some type of government job and his life was quite secretive.” He hasn’t spoken to his mother in several years. Although he hasn’t been able to confirm this, a sister of his told him in 2001 that she had passed away.

David has been homeless since 2001. (photo by Reed)

In addition to learning more about his parents, David would like to find a cousin of his that was like a big brother to him. His name is Ben Bella Jaoko and he is in his mid-forties today according to David. “He moved to Poland in the 1980s to study. With the internet today, maybe somebody can find him,” he said, his voice grasping on to hope.

Before saying goodbye, David told me that he was going to use the $10 to buy him a nice meal consisting of some Italian sausages, some bread, and a beer. The rest, although I doubt he’ll have much left at this point, he said he’d put toward a pack of cigarettes.

Although I met David at Connecticut and Q, he says that he is usually at 17^th and K if you would like to stop by and say hello.

UPDATE 10/04/2011: Since my initial encounter with David, the most incredible thing has happened. Someone who was going to a job interview at a company in Poland Googled the hiring manager for the job to learn a little more about him – something we all do today, right? The hiring manager’s name was Ben Bella Jaoko!

Well, would you believe this guy found my post about David and at the end of the interview asked Ben if he knew that he had a cousin in the U.S. who was looking for him. Completely shocked, Ben wasted no time contacting me and we connected by phone and I put him and David in contact.

From that moment on Ben worked tirelessly to make arrangements for David to get back to Kenya to be reunited with his family.

This morning as I sat working away at my kitchen table, I got a phone call from Ben. I didn’t immediately recognize the voice, but when I heard David’s name mentioned I connected the dots. “I’ve managed to raise enough money to purchase the airfare for David to come back to Kenya,” he shared. He explained to me the rest of the details and asked for my help to take him to the airport, help pay for luggage, and get him some clothes and other incidentals for the trip to Nairobi. If you would like to help us reunite David with his family you can donate $10 by clicking HERE or the yellow DONATE button on the top right side of this page.

We hope to have everything completed for David to depart by the end of the month. With your help, we can make that happen!

I hung up the phone and sat for a moment in silence in my apartment. All because of a simple blog post that I made a little over a year ago, David is about to leave the streets of Washington and be reunited with his family. This is what it’s all about!

UPDATE 11/15/2011: David will be flying home to Kenya on Tuesday, November 22nd. He has been away for nearly 15 years. Thanks to so many of you who have offered to help support these efforts. I have organized a going away party for David on Monday evening at One Lounge (1606 20th Street, NW – Dupont) in DC from 5:30-8:00pm. Please stop by and meet David before he embarks on this exciting new stage of his life. We will also be accepting donations if you would like to contribute to covering some of the costs associated with getting David back home. I hope to see you next Monday!!

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Day 256 – Lisa K.

Posted in Something for others, tagged $10, alumni, artist, DC, Golden Triangle, night, travel, washington on September 12, 2010| Leave a Comment »

9/11 memorial

It’s hard to believe that it’s been 9 years since the 9/11 tragedy. I remember where I was; just under a mile from the Pentagon. I remember seeing the crash on TV at my eye doctor’s office and then walking over to my office in Rosslyn, VA and hearing the crash at the Pentagon. 2,996 lives were lost that morning. To give you an idea of how many people that is. If we were to honor one person each day, it would have taken until Nov. 26, 2009 – more than eight years – to honor all those who lost their lives.

Remember Tommy from Day 155? Well, I delivered some items from Meghan in Pennsylvania and took some video. Check it out here. By the way, he needs some items for winter, check out the Lend a Hand section.

Before I introduce you to today’s recipient, I must apologize for a mix up on my side. Yesterday I posted Day 256 with pictures of today’s recipient, Lisa, but with the story and notes that pertain to Jessica who was the recipient on Day 257. Sorry…I think I got it all cleaned up now. With 365 posts this year I was bound to mess this up at some point!

Lisa proudly displays her $10

Embarrassingly Lisa saw the mix up and wrote to me to point it out. Thankfully she was understanding and assured her that I would get it taken care of today. Thanks Lisa, I’m sorry about that.

Anyway, I met Lisa at a going away party for Sarah, the person who I replaced at the WWF. The 26-year-old owns her own graphic design business here in Washington, DC. After growing up here in the DC area, she went to Pittsburgh to study at Carnegie Mellon University. Today most of her family is split between Boston and Buffalo.

Owning your own business seems to have its advantages for this world traveler. “I try to set aside a month or two each year for travel,” she says. “My next trip is going to be the western part of South America or India. She told me about another trip where she went hang gliding over Rio de Janeiro. When I lived in Brazil I went to Rio regularly for business and often stayed at the Intercontinental Hotel. From the hotel you can see the hang gliders taking off from Sao Conrado and riding the thermals high above. Who knows, maybe Lisa was one of those hang gliders that I have seen!

We talked a little bit about why people give. “I’m pretty busy and so I often give money instead of my time.” Lisa went on to say that she does give of her time to her family and close friends. “I’m pretty artistic, so sometimes I will do a painting for friends. I’ve also done a friend’s wedding invitations.” Speaking of giving, the $10 in her hand ended up being used to buy her good friend Sarah some beers.

photo: Reed

I asked Lisa if there was anything that someone else could give to her that would be helpful. “I’d really like it if someone could donate five or six hours at a printing shop. That would be amazing!”

If anyone is in need of a graphic designer, let me know and I can connect you with Lisa!

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Day 247 – Julio G.

Posted in Transportation, tagged $10, DC, Dupont Circle, family, food, jobs, night, prison, restaurants, washington on September 2, 2010| 2 Comments »

Five Guys cheeseburger and fries

Who doesn’t like a good burger? Ok, maybe a vegetarian, but probably even they like a good veggie burger, right? I live dangerously close to a Five Guys burger joint. I have to exercise incredible restraint in order to not end up there too often. Well, you might find yourself wanting a burger by the end of this post.

Late in the evening of day 247, I spotted a guy crossing Connecticut Avenue carrying what looked like high chairs that restaurants have for small children. I hurried across the street to catch up with the man who was now loading them into a vehicle. It was close to midnight and I was interested in what someone does with restaurant high chairs in the middle of the night.

Julio loads some high chairs that need fixed into his car. (photo: Reed)

I called out to the man and he turned to face me. Julio is a manager for the Five Guys on Connecticut Avenue in the Dupont area. He explains to me that he noticed that the high chairs needed to be repaired so he was taking them home to fix them. I wasn’t surprised that the 34-year-old was looking out for kids when I learned that he was the father of four daughters and one son. The oldest is 16 and the youngest is ten months!

Before joining the fast growing burger chain, Julio was doing work on floors in VA. Before that he said he was living in Brooklyn, NY. I asked some more questions about what he was doing in NY and he looked at me very squarely and told me that he spent 14 years in New York State prison. I asked him what he was convicted of and he just said “violence.” Now you might think that this would make me a little nervous, not at all. He is the nicest guy. “I’ve learned a lot about life,” he says. “I got spiritual.” He was released four years ago and moved his family away from his old barrio to the DC area to start over.

Now here is the part I started to question. How was his wife having these kids while he was serving his sentence… He told me that he had kids that were 16, 11, 8, 2 and 10 months. How was he having kids while he was in prison? The answer: conjugal visits. Yep! I actually did a little research on this and according to Wikipedia conjugal visit privileges have been removed from all federal prisons and all but six state systems: California, Connecticut, Mississippi, New Mexico, New York and Washington. I am not condoning criminal behavior, but if you are going to commit a crime I recommend one of those states. I’m just saying.

All that seems left of his past are some tattoos that decorate his arms. “I was young,” he says referring to the fact that he was incarcerated at the age of 16. He says that his focus now is on work and spending time with his wife and five children. I asked him where he would like to be in 10 years and he said he hoped to own a couple of Five Guys franchises and possibly get into real estate. He could use some help getting there though. “I could use some financial planning advice,” he told me. He wants to make sure that he manages his finances in such a way that he is able to realize his goals. If any good financial planners out there are willing to do some pro-bono work, let me know and I can connect you with Julio. Speaking of money…Julio said my $10 would get spent on gas. He drives back and forth to Maryland every day for work.

Julio has been with Five Guys for two years (photo: Reed)

So now the fun part. Did you think I was going to end this without giving your stomach something to think about? Well, I couldn’t resist asking Julio what his favorite burger was. He said that was easy. “Cheeseburger, all the sauces – ketchup, A-1, Bar-B-Q and hot sauce – pickles, onions and extra cheese.” And with that he says you gotta order the Cajun fries. Or maybe a little bit of both the Five Guys style and Cajun fries.

Now as I explained on Day 238 to Paul, Five Guys is awesome (and they are even more awesome for investing in a good guy like Julio), but my favorite burger is from Ray’s Hellburger in Rosslyn, VA. He said he hadn’t heard of Ray’s so some day I am going to take Julio over there with me and get him a burger. Heck, maybe Paul will come with us too!

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Day 246 – Freakshow

Posted in Cigarettes, Refusals, tagged $10, art, artist, Columbia Heights, creativity, DC, music, night, past recipients, update, washington on September 1, 2010| 4 Comments »

Knox gets his first customer of the day (photo: Reed)

Yesterday was a great day. I ran into my very first recipient for the first time since we met on December 15, 2009. I embarked on this journey 259 days ago when I placed $10 in the hands of a man named Knox who was shinning shoes on a bitter cold afternoon on the corner of 21^st and P Streets. I walked by him yesterday and I wasn’t sure if it was him, so I asked. “Yeah that’s me,” he said. He remembered meeting me too. We talked and I got his phone number so that I can invite him to the year-end party. “I’m gonna be there,” he assured me. He also offered me a free shoe shine which I politely declined. It made my day to see Knox again! Here is an updated picture of him.

Knox, the Year of Giving's first recipient! (photo: Reed)

I am about two weeks behind writing up the blogs…so today’s recipient is from Day 246. I was in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of Washington, DC when I realized I was close to the restaurant Social. You might remember I visited this place on Day 84. It’s a cool place that is hard to categorize. I called it a restaurant, but it is rather chameleon like. It is a restaurant, bar, lounge, living room…it is what you are looking for. I ended up talking to some people sitting outside on their patio. I offered a woman there the $10 but she refused. Then a guy at the table suggested that I give the $10 to the next person that walked by. Well, I was thinking that it might be difficult to get someone to stop and talk to me since it was almost midnight.

About 100 yards away we spotted a guy walking and when he got close I asked him to accept my $10, but he declined. I sat back down and enjoyed one of the tasty beers they have at Social. About five minutes later we spotted someone else approaching the patio. One of the guys at my table said, “Oh my gosh, you may want to skip this guy,” because the man who was walking toward us had fluorescent blue hair, eyebrows and goatee. When I saw him, I wasn’t discouraged, in fact, I knew that he was the one.

Freakshow isn't so freaky, he's actually a really nice guy (photo: Reed)

Somehow I wasn’t surprised when the 45-year-old Altoona, PA native told me, “They call me Freakshow. I’m a DJ.” He’s been mixing high energy music for several years here in DC creating a music genre that he calls “funky junk.”

I had to ask him about his color choice for his hair. “It’s always changing; from leopard prints to zebra stripes, to an American flag mohawk.” (I’m back to using the word mohawk on my blog!) He channels his creativity in many other ways too.

Freakshow is a flower designer and a re-creation artist; someone who takes “something that is considered to have outlived its useful purpose and give it one last chance at being worthwhile.”

He told me about one of his artworks that got a considerable amount of attention from his neighbors. He decided to reuse his downspouts in a new and creative way. Check out these photos from the Prince of Petworth’s website.

Freakshow's downspout art (photo: Reed)

"Creativity takes courage" -Henri Matisse (photo: Reed)

Like or dislike his creation, it does get a reaction. It generated 90+ comments on the August 9th Prince of Petworth blog post. Freakshow himself even chimed in to explain himself. I personally don’t care much for the result of his new arrangement of the downspouts, but I get what he was doing and what I like even more about it was what he said about how his experiment triggered social interaction within his community. “I in the past two weeks have had the opportunity to meet more of my neighbors than in the two years I have lived at this residence. I have made friend and foe but I have lived an experience that allowed me to see and grow, to realize how people can be so utterly judgmental of another person’s vision. I never claimed beauty or functionality I only took a moment to look at life from a different perspective and my god it was a journey.”

"It's always changing." Freakshow commenting on his hairstyle (photo: Reed)

By the way, Freakshow told me the whole creation was held in place by three screws and some duct tape. I may be wrong, but I believe that he has since removed the downspout. He wrote in the blog post comment that he envisioned replacing it with a brick patio, flower-cart and bench that hopefully won’t offend his neighbors.

So I bet you are wondering what this guy did with my ten bucks right? More duct tape perhaps? Nope, he joins previous recipients Matt and Isaac in using my $10 to purchase cigarettes.

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Day 245 – Frederick P.

Posted in Lottery / Gambling, tagged $10, DC, homeless, mental illness, night, veteran, washington on August 31, 2010| 7 Comments »

Those who have followed my blog for a while know that I give to all kinds of people. Well, today’s post is proof of that. It was an evening full of interesting characters.

I saw tall lanky African American man wearing a hat, sweatshirt, jacket and suit trousers who was randomly walking up to people and saying things to them and then walking away. His unpredictable behavior and use of a sweatshirt and jacket in near 90+ degree temperatures peaked my interest. As I walked up to him I was greeted by him saying, “Did the good old boys send you from Texas or Tennessee?” I tried to make sense of his question but couldn’t and responded, “My name is Reed and I was wondering if you would like to be part of my project…” He put his hand on my shoulder, something he most have done twenty or thirty times throughout our conversation, and said, “I bet you don’t know where to find you some Japanese ninjas do you?” Before I could tell him that he was right about that he continued, “I trust the Japanese more than I trust my own people, and that’s the end of that now.”

A homeless man rests his head on a briefcase on the streets of DC (photo: Reed)

This was the beginning of a 30 minute bizarre conversation that was impossible to follow. It was like taking a Quentin Tarantino flick, translating into another language and then watching it backwards. I don’t have any pictures or video of Frederick because he was completely paranoid about his image being captured. I did however manage to rather stealthily turn on my audio recorder that was in my backpack at one point and captured some of the tirades. If anyone knows a simple way to upload an audio file on WordPress, let me know, I tried and it only seems to accept video. I know there are some conversion products, but I have not had good luck with some of them.

Few pieces of Frederick’s discourse were coherent. He rarely answered my questions, preferring to jump to a completely different subject. Here are a sample of items that I did manage to comprehend. He claims to:

– be a direct descendent of our 14^th president, Franklin Pierce

– have served in the 18^th Military Police Criminal Investigation Division for six years

– have worked for the US Postal Service

– be protected by ninjas

– know about secret German laboratories located through a system of tunnels under NYC

– be homeless and live near the Russian embassy (for security reasons)

Surprisingly I did manage to get a clear answer about what he would do with the $10. “I’m going to buy lottery tickets. It’s a tax write-off,” he explains. Hmmm, not sure I agree with him on the tax write-off, but by this time I was not surprised at all by anything he said.

The rest of my time with Frederick was spent tangentially jumping from subject to subject. It was difficult to make any sense of it, but I did start writing down topics that he spoke about. Here is a sample of the items (in order as he mentioned them) that he talked about: Manuel Noriega, Marion Barry, Vietnam war, drugs, race, Philippines, Spanish, Obama, Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi, Christmas cards, South Carolina, Castro, KGB, Charlie Rangel, plagiarism, Mozambique, Florida, Turkestan, Jews and Alexander Pushkin. On top of all this he fist bumped me at least two dozen times throughout his ramblings. If you can make a coherent statement weaving all of these items together in that order, please send it to me!

He stopped at one point and I decided this was my time to make an exit. I thanked him for his time and got my things together. “So, when are you going to deploy?” he asked. I assured him that I wasn’t deploying anywhere, shook his hand and went on my way…but my interesting evening wasn’t over yet. As I said goodbye I heard someone imitating the sound of a cat. They were meowing really loud. I spotted a twenty or thirty-something white guy with really unkempt hair slowly making his way along the sidewalk. He was about 15 feet away from me screaming his lungs out. People began changing their path just to avoid getting close to him. If this wasn’t weird enough, another white guy, about sixty years old, ran past both me and the crazy cat man shooting at us with a water gun. I looked up at the moon, but it wasn’t full.

Nonetheless, it was really late and walking home was probably not a good idea so I found a cab, jumped in the back and breathed a sigh of relief.

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Day 243 – Carlton S.

Posted in Transportation, tagged $10, DC, friends, night, photography, shaw, U Street, washington on August 29, 2010| 2 Comments »

After leaving the Black Cat on Day 242, we got some pizza on U Street and I offered to walk a friend of mine home. On the way we noticed some bright lights in the CVS parking lot. At first I thought maybe they were filming something. As we got closer we noticed that there were five cloth backdrops with scenes painted on them, some portrait studio type lighting and two color printers.

You can find Carlton every weekend until October at the CVS parking lot near Florida and 7th (photo: Reed)

Carlton was holding a Canon Rebel camera. I asked what was going on and he explained that during the warm months he and his brothers set up in the parking lot there at the CVS and take people’s photos in front of the backdrops. “It’s ten dollars for a picture,” the 31-year-old tells me. I looked at my watch, it was about 12:30am…it’s a new day. Game on! I reached in and grabbed $10 and gave it to Carlton. “I’ll take your guys picture for you if you want,” he offers but I explain that I can’t receive anything in return for the $10.

Carlton’s uncle negotiated a deal with the CVS people to use their parking lot from 11pm to around 3am on the weekends. Then he and his brother’s got a friend named GQ to design all the back drops. There were five backdrops lined up: one that said “Wasted” and had some alcohol bottles on it, another with a Cuervo 1800 bottle, a third with a Mercedes, the fourth one had a Cadillac truck and the last one showed a beach with waves crashing under the moon. “My favorite is one that is not up tonight, but it’s one with two bottles of Moet champagne,” Carlton says.

Carlton at work (photo: Reed)

As we are chatting a group of nine presumably inebriated young people show up to get their picture taken in front of the “Wasted” backdrop. He takes their photo about four times until they are happy with it and then pulls the memory stick out of the camera and slips it into the printer and hits print. About 90 seconds later, their picture was ready.

“We print about 70 pictures a night,” Carlton says. “We got a lot of regulars too.” No sooner did he mention that he had regulars than a guy shows up who must have taken 30 photos of himself. He was wearing sunglasses and had his car stereo system pumping hard. He took photos in front of several of the backdrops but then he took some of him in his car too. Carlton printed what looked to be about two dozen photos and handed them to the customer. “He’s a regular,” Carlton says nodding toward the man as he pulled out of the parking lot. I hope he didn’t pay $10 per picture!

Carlton poses for a picture (photo: Reed)

Carlton and his brothers, DC natives who attended Roosevelt High School, have been doing this for four years. Sometimes they also set up in clubs and other places, especially in the winter when they are not out at this location. Things get a little out of control from time to time too. “Sometimes ladies get naked, it’s crazy,” Carlton admits.

Some ladies strike a pose for Carlton (photo: Reed)

Two young ladies approach us and ask to get their picture taken. I now had my camera out and I guess they thought I was working there…reasonable assumption. I directed them to Carlton and they struck a pose in front of the Cuervo bottle. I captured Carlton taking their photo.

“I’m going use the $10 to put gas in my car,” he says as he slides the ladies’ photo into a sleeve.

Before leaving, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to get my photo taken as well. I chose the beach scene. You can find the photo on the Facebook Page.

If you want to get your photo taken by Carlton, you’ll find him or one of his brothers in the CVS parking lot at Florida and 7th Street, NW any weekend from 11pm to around 3am until October.

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Day 242 – Gabrielle A.

Posted in Alcohol, Something for others, tagged $10, clubs, DC, friends, music, night, seattle, video games, washington on August 28, 2010| 1 Comment »

The NRIs with Melanie on violin (photo: Reed)

On Day 242 I made my way over to the Black Cat to see my friend Melanie’s band, the NRIs. You might recall that Melanie is also in a band called Machines on Vacation (see Day 80 and 128). I had not seen the NRIs before so I was excited to check them out and they didn’t disappoint. My friend Melanie, who plays the violin, is a great addition to the band giving some of the songs a very genuine sound.

Before going in to see the show, I spotted some people having a cigarette outside. I thought I would see if one of them would be my 242^nd recipient. After a brief discussion they agreed that Gabrielle should be one.

Chris and Gabrielle outside the Black Cat (photo: Reed)

“Today I live in Virginia…I guess,” she tells me as I collect some basic information from her. It turns out this 28-year-old left Seattle a week earlier and drove 2,800 miles with her boyfriend Chris to Washington, DC. “It was a long drive. It was a hot drive,” she told me.

Gabrielle moved her for a job in the video gaming field as an environmental graphic designer. She’s the one that puts the trees and landscapes in your favorite games! You’re welcome! She likes working on next generation games and wants to make cool monsters (I think that is what my notes say…my writing is particularly bad this day.) She recently completed some work on the racing simulator Forza Motorsport 3.

As I recall she initially was staying outside of DC in Virginia as a house-sitter for some people who her father met in Idaho! Totally random I know.

“Wow, that’s cool,” she says as I hand her the $10. “I need it, I’m pretty much out of money.” She thought for a while about what she was going to do with it and finally said that it would probably get spent on two beers that evening: one for her and one for Chris.

Here is a short video of Gabrielle talking about the highs and lows of her trip back east as well as her initial impressions of Washington, DC. Take a look:

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Day 238 – Paul G.

Posted in Something for others, tagged $10, burgers, DC, dogs, Dupont, hobbies, night, restaurants, washington on August 24, 2010| 5 Comments »

This made me laugh today. Apparently I have made the top 10 list of weirdest hobbies! My daily gifting landed me in third place behind a guy who takes photos of himself pretending to be dead and another guy who tries to get in the background of various newscasts. Here’s the part that shocked me though, I managed to beat the 84-year-old English woman who knits woolen boobs. Now that is really something!

Paul holding Kiko who turns one year old next Wednesday! (photo: Reed)

Anyway, after four days of dog sitting you would think that I had my fill of dogs, but it seems that was not the case as I gave my $10 to a guy with a dog on Day 238.

I walked by the Cosi on the corner of Connecticut Avenue and R Street in DC and saw Paul sitting at a table outside with Kiko, a black mixed lab. It turns out that he was just waiting there for his girlfriend, Kristen, who had gone into Five Guys to get their dinner. “Their burgers are good, not as good as Ray’s Hellburger over in Rosslyn, but they’re good.” He also said he likes the Vietnamese Pho 75 that is next to Ray’s. I have to agree, I like both of those spots too.

Kiko, whose name was inspired by the Kikkoman brand of soy sauce, is a rambunctious young pup. They found her abandoned on the side of the road in Fayette County, West Virginia. Although they don’t know exactly how old Kiko is, they guess that she is about a year. In fact they have made September 1 her birthday so she will be celebrating her first birthday next week! As she was a rescue dog Paul said that she came with some challenging habits to break. “She’s a cross between a piranha and a beaver – I mean other than a Kevlar vest, she will chew up just about anything.”

Paul picked Kiko up and posed for some photos. The 35 pound dog hammed it up pretty good and even later showed off some things she has learned to do. Unfortunately my camera kind of spooked her so I didn’t get to see the complete repertoire of tricks.

Kiko politely shakes Kristen's hand. (photo: Reed)

Speaking of tricks, Paul had a trick of his own that he showed me. He has the unique ability to snap his fingers with his pinky fingers. I have never seen anyone do that. “Neither have I,” said the 29-year-old Dupont resident, “I even listed it on my application for Georgetown where they asked about special talents.” Paul ended up getting accepted to Georgetown so for any of you prospective college students, start practicing now so that you can add this to your admission application. It apparently works!

I asked him if there was anything he could think of that I could list on the Lend a Hand section of the website. He light-heartedly said, “A healthy supply of Belgian beers would be nice.” All you Belgian and Belgian style brewers out there, please send Paul a six pack of you best beer.

Paul said that his ten dollars would somehow go to Kiko. “Maybe a toy or some treats,” he told me. I later got this in an email from him:

Instead of being put toward a new toy or a bag of treats for her, your “donation” covered 5/8 of the $16 fee charged by our dogwalker for her 30 minute session with Kiko today. Not cheap, right? If you want to reap windfall profits, dogwalking is where it’s at…”

Thanks for the update Paul!

So before I left, I got to meet his girlfriend Kristen. She was very nice and we chatted for a while. I felt bad though as their delicious burgers were getting cold so I said goodbye and walked home.

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Day 236 – Breanna C. & Alex H.

Posted in Unknown, tagged $10, amazing, chile, downtown, economy, funny, jobs, Manassas, night, perseverance, VA on August 23, 2010| 3 Comments »

Chilean president Sebastián Piñera holds up a message from the trapped miners. (photo: Hector Retamal/AP)

Have you been following the 33 miners trapped in a mine in Chile. Well, yesterday after 17 days trapped 4.5 miles inside the winding mine, rescuers received a note written in red paint that all 33 were alive! VIVA CHILE! That is awesome. Now the challenge. It will take up to four months to get them out…but they are able to send some supplies down to them. Read more about this here.

This is the same shot I took the yesterday but at night (photo: Reed)

Back here in the US, I was on my third day in Manassas when I decided to go to the historic downtown and find my recipient of the day. I had gone to dinner down in Springfield with some old work colleagues and then drove back and stopped downtown. It’s a charming quaint looking place where you see the same police car driving around the town a couple of times during the same evening (either that or they were suspicious of the “guy from out of town walking around giving money away and taking pictures.”) The flag lined streets are nestled with small shops, restaurants, bars, a hotel and even a barber shop. It’s in front of the Royal Cuts Barber Shop on Center Street that I found Alex and Breanna sitting on a bench.

I am not sure how well they knew each other. At first I figured they were a couple, but then it turned out that they were just friends, or maybe even acquaintances, who had attended the same high school.

Alex and Breanna chilling in front of Royal Cuts Barber Shop (photo: Reed)

I asked them what someone should see or do in Manassas and they said that they really didn’t have a good answer. “There’s not much to do here except go around town and look at the plaques,” they said referring to the historical markers that are peppered around the city center. Alex said to check out a place called Tommy’s. “It’s pretty good and they got some pool tables,” he added. I looked them up later on the internet and it seems to be an interesting place. They describe the atmosphere as a “sports bar” that is also “family friendly” and welcomes cowboy hats!

I asked them what they liked to do and they both said they enjoyed writing. “I have a freakish imagination,” Alex says. “I write short stories, sci-fi and fantasy but it’s not very good.” Breanna says she also likes to write and is equally self-deprecating of her talent. Alex also admitted to a severe music addiction saying that he likes all kinds of music, “80s, 90s up to today.”

We chat some more and before too long before a friend of Breanna’s who just got off work stopped by. I’m going to take the liberty to change his name and call him Mike…I think you will understand once I explain more. Anyway, I had asked Alex and Breanna to share with me something interesting or funny about them so when Mike arrived I thought better yet, I’ll ask Mike to give me some funny story about the two. Mike thinks for a second and then says, “Ok, well, I guess I could share this with you but it’s pretty embarrassing.” Mike proceeds to tell me a story that had nothing to do with Alex and Breanna at all. It was story about him that had to do with masturbation!

I was looking at Breanna and Alex and they were looking at me and none of us knew quite what to say. “I don’t think he understood your question,” Breanna said. Yeah, I’d say that was a safe assumption.

Anyway, it was a bit awkward for a minute or two and then Breanna left with Mike and I stayed behind with Alex.

Intersection of Main and Center Streets at night (photo: Reed)

I’m glad I decided to hang out a little longer and chat with Alex because he shared his own personal struggle getting a job. That meant a lot to me given my own 285 day search for employment that I had gone through since being laid off last year. Alex didn’t graduate when he should have because he failed a civics class. It started off ok but then the teacher had a stroke and they had a slew of substitute teachers in and out of the classroom and he just didn’t do well and ended up failing. Until he finished the class and got his diploma it was really hard to find a job that would pay anything decent.

Alex found himself graduating as the country slipped into a depression. The job market turned south and he was left knocking on doors, literally. “I walked door to door at one point looking for a job,” he told me. I asked him if he could share the story on video and he agreed. His heartfelt story shows how determination on a rainy day can lead to opportunity. Anyone who has thought about giving up on finding a job should watch this!

So, what the heck happened to the $10, right! Well, I asked Alex what he was going to do with the money and we realized that Breanna had ended up with the money! Somehow I must have missed that when she left. Perhaps I was distracted by the masturbation story. Anyway, I have emailed Breanna and hope to get an update on the $10 soon.

We said goodbye and I walked through the streets of Manassas passed dozens of dark storefronts until I arrived at my car. I went back and took Sweetie for a walk before going to bed.

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Day 235 – Joshua A.

Posted in Something for themself, tagged $10, culture, economy, family, home ownership, housing, jobs, Manassas, military, navy, night on August 22, 2010| 1 Comment »

Railroad tracks run through picturesque downtown Manassas (photo: Reed)

I’ve enjoyed taking care of my friends’ dog Sweetie. She really likes going for walks.

While in Manassas I thought I would go and relax a little at a local coffee shop so I looked online for a good place and found some good reviews for a place called Jess Presso. It was over off of Liberia Ave. and I looked all over for it but couldn’t find it. I double checked the address and found that there was another business operating where it used to be. There was a Starbucks in the same plaza so I thought that I would head over there and maybe do a little writing or see who I would find there to give my $10 to.

Starbucks on Liberia Ave. where I met Joshua (photo: Reed)

As I waited for my dopio espresso, the perky cashier explained to me that the place I was looking for had closed. “It wasn’t that good actually in my opinion – my friend worked there,” she said. Well, at least I didn’t miss anything. I got my espresso, added a packet of Splenda and stirred the murky water while I scanned the shop. There was a guy sitting in a comfy chair working on his computer who caught my eye.

Originally from Oklahoma, Joshua moved here two weeks ago after spending the last three years living with his wife at the home of his in-laws in Hawaii.

Joshua spent nine years in the navy as a submarine sonar technician before leaving the military back in May. Then he spent two months combing the internet for a job. Being out of work for an extended time will “make your eyes bleed,” Joshua states shaking his head. He is thankful for the job opportunity he received despite having to leave his wife in Hawaii for a while. Pregnant with their first child, they decided that she would stay back in Hawaii with her family until after the arrival of the baby in January.

Joshua doesn't have internet access at his apartment yet, so he often visits Starbucks to connect. (photo: Reed)

From politics to foreign cultures to immigration laws to the economy; we talked for nearly two hours. He told me that before joining the navy he worked for a small lending company in Oklahoma. He used to go in person to do the collections and had so many sad stories of people getting into situations that they were unable to easily get themselves out of. He says that he felt bad for many of the people that he had to go and pressure to make payments. He says that they weren’t like the aggressive maniacs you see on TV, but their goal was to recover the borrowed money. “I definitely learned one thing; never co-sign anything unless you’re prepared to be solely responsible for it.”

Despite being submerged for up to 45 days at a time sometimes, he said that he really enjoyed his time in the navy. “A difficult part that a lot of guys don’t know before they enlist is that even when they are at port they have to “stand duty” one out of every four nights.” That means staying aboard the ship away from family and standing guard. As he and his wife start their own family they felt that a civilian life would allow them to spend more time together.

Joshua is living in an apartment for the time being but hopes to purchase a house. On this clip he talks to me a little bit about the importance of home ownership in the US and how cultural backgrounds play a big role in shaping our views of what type of living arrangements we choose.

When I asked him what he was going to do with the $10 he replied that he was going to “get some stuff for the apartment.” He smiled and said, “Today I bought a microwave, but that is about all I got, well that and an inflatable bed and two camping chairs, but that’s it.”

After almost two hours of talking I realized I completely hijacked his time there and we both packed up and left – I think Starbucks was closing anyway. As we got to our cars, I thanked him for his service to our country and for the enjoyable conversation that evening and said “Goodbye.”

UPDATE Aug. 23, 2010: I got an email from Joshua today letting me know that the $10 went toward a futon which is already being used by a friend from his Navy training days who is visiting!

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Day 230 – Tommy N.

Posted in Gave the money to someone else, tagged $10, DC, Dupont Circle, gay, homelessness, jobs, night, transgender, washington on August 16, 2010| 2 Comments »

Tommy and Loni pose for me at Dupont Circle (photo: Reed)

I was walking through Dupont Circle at dusk when I passed a man and woman sitting on a bench. As I got passed the couple I heard them both make some sexually suggestive comments to me. Flattering ones, but still it’s awkward to hear. I kept walking for about 30 yards and stopped and thought, this could be interesting. So, I turned around and decided to walk back and give my $10 to them. “He’s coming back” Tommy said a bit nervously perhaps as I headed back toward the bench where they were seated.

I spent the next hour talking to Tommy and Loni. I soon learned that Loni was a transgender. She told me that she had the full surgery and was completely operational. “Wanna take a look” she said with a demonic smile. Hmmm, I think I’ll pass.

They went back and forth a little deciding who was going to accept $10 until they finally agreed that Tommy would. “You have no idea how many times I have really needed $10″ he says.

Although now he has a place to stay, Tommy used to live right here in Dupont Circle. “I love the park, but the problem with this place is that there are too many people sharing my room” he says as he gives way to a hearty laugh. I laughed as well. He shared that one time he was sleeping on the edge of the fountain at the circle when he rolled off into the water. (Hey, I’ve been in that fountain too!)

When Tommy came to DC last October, he said he “jumped right into the gay community.” He explains that back in Detroit there is not a strong gay community any more. “There used to be like 60 gay bars there, now there is maybe six!” Although he says that Detroit gets a bad reputation, there are some really beautiful parts. “The architecture is amazing” he says as he explains that Detroit has the largest collection of art deco architecture in the US (I always thought it was more of a Miami Beach thing.)

Tommy says that he will use the money to help someone else out. “I try to help people all the time” he says. “What comes around goes around – I live off the kindness of others.”

Tommy showed me some of his dance moves (photo: Reed)

I asked him what he was doing for money and he replied, “Tomorrow I am starting a stripper job – I need a wig though, know anywhere I can get one?” I actually don’t have a lot of knowledge of wigs surprisingly. He also told me that he uses a pseudonym for his dancing. “I go by Gordon – it’s my brother and dad’s name.” Wow…that just seems wrong. If I found out my brother was stripping and using my Dad’s name, I think I would be more upset that he was using Dad’s name than I would be that he was stripping.

Tommy told me that he used to be a designer until he was laid off three years ago. And before that – 27 years ago to be exact – he used to do modeling. In fact he said that he was the first male model for Calvin Klein.

We exchanged contact information and I said goodbye. Just then Loni started talking to a guy who approached her. This guy seemed really strange, like he was under the influence of something or had some mental illness. Tommy was quick to make sure that she was ok. Once the other guy left, Loni went on her way and I started heading home. Tommy and I walked a short ways together and chatted a little more. He told me that some times he writes phrases with chalk on the sidewalk at Dupont Circle. “I like this one thing I wrote, Speak without doubt!” I like that too.

I actually saw Tommy again today in Dupont Circle, but he was busy talking with someone. I have a feeling I will see him some more.

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Day 226 – Pat M.

Posted in Alcohol, tagged $10, bars, DC, Dupont Circle, food, night, restaurants, washington on August 11, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Sometimes I get almost to the end of the day and still haven’t given away my $10. The biggest challenge when this happens is that being dark outside creates another element to the task. At least here in the city, people’s defense mechanisms are heightened at night. We are much more leery of someone who approaches us at night, so sometimes I end up going to business establishments that are lit up where people have a greater sense of security, albeit perhaps a false one.

Bar at Kramer's Afterwords Cafe (Photo: Reed)

A few minutes later a few guys came in and I honed in on my target: Pat.

He was a white guy with a beard who looked to be in his twenties. He had a Pabst Blue Ribbon hat on and a shirt that said something like “Grumpy’s.” This should be interesting.

It turns out that Pat is a chef at a nearby restaurant. I love to cook and had my chance to ask him some burning questions I had, but I didn’t capitalize on the opportunity. I did ask him however what his favorite item to prepare was. “The pig. It’s the greatest animal ever! It’s 100% edible from snout to tail.” I would have thought some other animals fit that description too, but maybe they are not as tasty as the pig.

We started talking about some other things and the topic of the snowpocalypse came up. He told me how he ended up being stuck downtown for a week. His employer got him and some other staff a room for the week and he worked 14 hour days. “We did our best day of business so far this year on the day of the snowball fight at Dupont Circle” Pat tells me. “We sold over 200 bottles of wine in just two hours.” They couldn’t open bottles fast enough at one point.

I asked Pat to think of three words that fully described him. “Genuine, crazy and asshole” he says as he looks to his pals to get confirmation. “I tell it like it is and I help other people out.” As for being crazy he says that anyone who works in the restaurant busy is crazy. “You can’t work in this business and be sane. This is the most hard-core cut-throat business there is.” He adds that alcohol and drug abuse is more common in restaurant service business too which “makes it even crazier.”

The big and small hand on the clock are creeping toward 12 when the Metro closes during the week and Pat is ever mindful of the time. He and his buddies decide they have to leave in order to catch the last train. They were heading to watch Showtime’s comedy-drama hit Weeds.

“I’ll probably spend the $10 on alcohol or put it on my Metro card.” He grabs his bag and downs the rest of his beer. “It’ll probably get spent on alcohol” he says with a smile as he hurries out the door.

Would you believe the very next day I was driving along 22nd Street in DC and saw Pat and his PBR hat. He didn’t see me because I couldn’t stop, but it was him. Small world.

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Day 222 – Carlton J.

Posted in Something for themself, tagged $10, aids, art, artist, DC, drugs, homelessness, hope, night, update, video, washington on August 7, 2010| 1 Comment »

Carlton sometimes does as many as 10 paintings a day (photo: Reed)

Carlton is sprawled out on the sidewalk in front of Bank of America along Dupont Circle, his feet extending over the edge of the curb and into traffic. His right hand, covered with paint, swiftly dances over the canvas of a landscape of a far off mountain accompanied by some trees in the foreground. He pops up and talks to a man who approaches him. He displays another painting that he has next to him to the man. They talk for a few minutes and then the man takes his wallet out and pulls a twenty from it and places it in Carlton’s hand. In exchange he hands him the painting.

I decided to go up to Carlton and ask if he would accept my $10. He was genuinely curious about what I was doing. We chatted about his past, the present and the future. It was a pretty memorable evening.

photo: Reed

At 45 Carlton has been through a lot. But painting here at Dupont Circle brings his story full circle. You see it was here about 10 years ago that he used to sleep in the park and panhandle in front of the CVS. He was a homeless out-of-work drug user. One evening he went into the park and shot up with some dirty needles. He suspects it was that specific night that he contracted the HIV virus. He knew it wasn’t a good idea, but the addiction had blurred his judgment. It reminds me of Rob from Day 117 who said, “The thing about addiction is that people continue these behaviors in spite of catastrophic consequences.” Anyway, he went years without knowing he was infected until he started to get quite ill and lost a considerable amount of weight. He went to the hospital and found out that he was HIV positive. He says that his health is good these days thanks to three little pills that he takes every day. He says he knocked his drug addiction although still drinks alcohol which I could smell on his breath.

It was only about a year and a half ago that Carlton started painting. “I didn’t want to panhandle no more” he said. He got started when a woman left him some paint by the bench where he was sleeping. He decided to give it a try. “God taught me,” he answers when I ask if he was self-taught. The reason he chooses to paint at Dupont Circle is that he hopes that some of the same people who used to see him strung out years ago will see him today and realize that he has talent and that he has improved his situation. He talks to me about why he likes to paint landscapes, how he has deals with being HIV positive and being homeless:

With the money that I gave him he said he was going to buy some colored paints.

Here is another few minutes of my conversation with Carlton. I asked him how others can help him and I thought his answer was beautiful.

I really enjoyed talking with him. As it got late and he finished his last painting he said that he needed to catch the Metro. “Hey, why don’t you take this painting” he offers as he pushes the painting you see in these pictures toward me. I told him that I couldn’t receive anything in return for the $10 but I did appreciate the gesture.

If you would like to find Carlton, he is often at Dupont Circle in front of the Bank of America during the afternoons. And sometimes he is there at night, like today. His paintings range from $20 and up, depending on the size and type.

UPDATE: I ran into Carlton on June 1, 2011 and visited with him for a while. You can read about my latest encounter with him by clicking here.

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Day 219 – Tara H.

Posted in Refusals, tagged $10, DC, Dupont Circle, night, washington on August 6, 2010| 5 Comments »

Day 219 was an interesting experience. It ended up being about 10:00pm and I hadn’t given away my $10 yet.

Tara and Sean in the fountain at Dupont Circle (photo: Reed)

On my way home from an event I attended I decided to see who I could find at Dupont Circle. I saw a group of people sitting on the edge of the fountain. A young lady in their group was actually standing in the fountain and two others dangled their feet in the cool water in search of some respite from the smothering heat. Just as I got close to them they spotted a friend passing by and started chatting with him. I kept walking to the south side of the fountain and sat down on a bench and just watched the scene for a little bit. It wasn’t long before I spotted Tara and Sean.

I saw a couple who were standing in the fountain getting their picture taken by a random person. They were using their phone to take the picture and I overheard someone saying that the picture didn’t come out very well. Although I didn’t have my SLR camera with me I did have my small canon digital camera that my friend Patricia lent me when my canon digital camera died. I figured I might be able to get a better picture for them. While offering to take their photo I took advantage of the opportunity to ask them to be my 219th recipient. This launched us into a thirty minute roller coaster discussion about my motives and reasoning behind my project and giving in general.

While Tara seemed more open to accepting the $10, Sean was quite clear that he didn’t want the money. A few times he actually said that he would accept it but wanted me then to go and find someone more “deserving” to give it to. I explained that he could do that but he wasn’t interested in that option. At a certain point I wrote the encounter off as a refusal and decided to take the photo of the two twenty-somethings anyway and send it to them.

About that time Tara made me an offer. “If you get in the fountain with me I will accept your $10” I was dressed in a suit and can assure you that if you had asked me earlier that day to name 100 potential things I would be doing later that evening, jumping in the fountain at Dupont Circle would not have made the list. With a little encouragement from Tara I decided to take her up on the offer. I think this marks the first time that I have had to do something for someone else in order for them to accept my $10.

Off went my socks and shoes. I rolled up my suit pants to my knees and

Reed steps around to the other side of the camera (photo: Sean)

swung my leg over the edge of the fountain. Before I knew it the two of us were standing in the middle of the fountain laughing as Sean took a photo of us. It was fun and felt really good.

We got out of the fountain and I let my feet dry off a little.

I found out that Tara works for a property management firm in Annapolis, MD where she has lived her entire life with the exception of attending East Carolina University. Sean and her have been friends since their freshman year of high school. On this night they were just hanging out, catching up with one another and having a few drinks.

I asked Tara what she planned on doing with the $10. “I want to do something good with it but it might just get spent on alcohol at the next bar we go to” she admits. I told her that she could do anything she wanted to with the money. “You know what, I am going to find a homeless person to give it to on the way to where we’re going.”

I put my socks and shoes back on and said goodbye to them both. They headed toward the Dupont Hotel and I headed back toward my place.

I got the following email from Tara the next day:

Reed,
I met you last night in the Dupont Circle fountain and you chose my friend Sean and I to be your Pay it Forward. I wanted to let you know after a deliciously over priced martini at Cafe Dupont, before retrieving a cab, I walked back over to the circle and woke up a homeless man. I asked him if he was hungry, he said “of course” and then I handed him the $10.
The first words out of his mouth were “God bless you, your an angel” and I just walked away. I’ve read many of the responses on your blog about peoples’ judgement on why we (being the participants that give away the money to someone that “deserves” it) would do such a thing. It isn’t even because it made me feel good, because it didn’t, I was thinking about the much larger picture and impact that you are having on so many people. After grabbing the cab and passing off the $10, we went back to my friends house and were sitting there telling his roommates about how we met this crazy guy named “Reed” and everything about the Year of Giving and his one roommate was like “Yea, yea, yea… OH MY GOD, I’ve heard about this guy! He’s like famous.” And of course I start laughing immediately at Sean from his skepticism but we were so enlightened by the whole experience.

Point being:
a) You chose my friend and I for a reason
b) We could have easily spent the $10 at the bar but instead that $10 fed a homeless man for the next 2 days.
c) Making you get into the fountain with me just so you could give me $10 was RIDICULOUS!
d) What you are doing is special, kind and humbling.

God bless you and your ventures!!!
I’m excited to follow you up until your Christmas Party!

It was a pleasure.
Tara

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Day 209 – Clyde L.

Posted in Bills, tagged $10, Bills, DC, Dupont Circle, economy, health, homeless, night, veteran, washington on July 23, 2010| 4 Comments »

photo: Reed

At about 9:00 pm on Day 209 I saw Garrett playing his maraca and tambourine on the Southeast corner of Connecticut Avenue and Q Street in Northwest. I have some items that you guys have sent for him and I crossed the street to talk with him and see if he would be there a while so that I could go home and get the items and come back to deliver them to him. Just about the time I reached Garrett a man in a wheel chair rolled up and stuffed some folded dollar bills into Garrett’s can and went back to where he had been sitting before. As I chatted with Garrett I couldn’t help but notice that the other gentleman was missing both legs and was holding a box with the words, “Donate, help needed, disabled” written on it. I was completely distracted.

I walked over to him and introduced myself. He didn’t tell me his name right away, but I later discovered that it was Clyde. “I hate to admit it but often times I tell people that my name is Mike, but it’s really Clyde.”

Garrett said he had to go and I continued to talk to Clyde for more than two hours. During that time at least a half-dozen people stopped and gave Clyde some money. One person even gave him an apple. Another, a clergy member from St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, stopped and chatted with us for a while. He had spoken with Clyde before. As he left he dropped a five-dollar bill inside Clyde’s box.

Clyde is wearing a faded blue and white hat with Sandals Jamaica written on it and large black sunglasses. His left leg looks to be amputated above the knee and is fitted with a prosthetic leg accompanied by a shoe. His right leg appears to be amputated near his pelvic bone. He has on a checkered pair of pajama-like pants that cover most of his prosthetic and then rest limp on his right side. At some point during the evening I gathered the courage to ask Clyde what happened to his legs. “I lost them in accident. I got a metal plate in my arm as well,” he says pointing to his right arm.

I asked if I could photograph him but he preferred not to. I even asked if I could just photograph his box, but he wasn’t comfortable with that either. I respect that. You will just have to do with some photos of the area where we passed the hours talking that evening.

Clyde, who tells me that his friends call him “Camel” because of a Ray Steven’s song about a camel named Clyde, is in his late 50s. He doesn’t live in DC but travels here by bus every month for about a week. While he is here he sometimes goes down to Capitol Hill to voice his opinion on topics as well as spends a good amount time in the Dupont Circle area. He sits and greets people kindly as they walk by, “Don’t forget the homeless.” When the sun sets and the bar-goers start to thin out he wheels himself a short distance away on Q Street and sleeps upright in his chair. “I’m used to it, it doesn’t bother me,” Clyde assures me. “It’s safer than trying to stay in a shelter.”

I found Clyde sitting in his wheel chair at this spot (photo: Reed)

It would be impossible to give our two-hour conversation justice in a few paragraphs here. But I will try to leave you with an accurate summary about what I know about this private man. He is kind and gentle. He doesn’t drink or smoke. He is well-read and knowledgeable about many topics and patiently shares his knowledge with others (or at least me!) He believes in God. He helps others when he can, which is evidenced by him donating some of his own money to Garrett. He served in the US Coast Guard and has traveled all over the world. He is very critical of our government. He rivals my father as a conspiracy theorist. He only watches Fox News and wishes we had more honest journalists “like Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh.”

Clyde has a home, but his social security doesn’t make ends meet. Each month he falls about $250 short so he takes a bus to DC and spends about a week here in order to collect enough money to pay the bills. “I got so many bills I’ve been thinking about changing my name to Bill!” he says…it falls a little flat but I managed a smile. He later told me that he would put the $10 I gave him toward paying some of those bills.

In the winter he forgoes his monthly trip to Dupont Circle’s tree-lined diagonal streets, large19^th century homes and row houses and endless embassies and takes a bus south every month to the warmer shores of South Beach, Miami where the colorful art deco buildings, palm trees and sandy beaches seem to wash away the winter blues.

Most of our conversation was somehow tied to politics and religion, two of the most delicate pieces of conversation I can think of. He shared a lot of his views and educated me on many topics.

It got to be close to 11:30 at night and I needed to head home. Afterall, I was starting my new job the next day! He said he would be back here next month. Same time (about the 8^th of the month he arrives in DC and stays to about the 15^th), same place (the corner of Connecticut and Q Street.) I look forward to stopping by and chatting with my new friend on his next visit.

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Day 208 – Anna B.

Posted in Something for others, tagged $10, DC, Dupont Circle, food, night, restaurants, smoking, washington on July 23, 2010| 2 Comments »

This is a short entry. I only had a few minutes with the recipient, it was dark, and I could barely read my writing when I got around to writing up the blog entry.

It was just after midnight and I was walking home and walked passed the back side of Bistro du Coin, a good French Bistro in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of DC. The mussells are excellent! My favorite are La Traditionelle Mouclade des Charentes – steamed mussels with a light cream sauce and curry. (And I almost never order something with a cream sauce!)

Usually when I pass the back of this restaurant the sidewalk is wet from liquids leaking from their trash containers and I often see some pretty large rats dashing around looking for scraps from the tasty offerings served inside. occasionally I also run across the random employee smoking a cigarette or making a quick call on their cell phone.

On this night I passed Anna who was quietly enjoying a cigarette.

“I only smoke once in a blue moon,” she told me.

A panoramic view of Kazan Kremlin, Vernicle temple and Kazanka river right bank (photo: Wikipedia)

She told me she really needed to get back inside to attend to her customers, so I cut to the chase and asked her what she would do with the $10. “I’m going to buy ice cream for my daughter,” she told me. Right then another waitress, Flo, wandered outside and lit up. Anna explained to Flo that she had just received $10 from me. I explained that I was walking by and just thought I would give my $10 to Anna. Flo exhaled a lung-full of smoke and said something along the lines that Anna never took a smoke break. “I’m out here all the time and I don’t get $10. She comes out here one time and…”

Anna said goodbye and excused herself as she slipped in the back door. I awkwardly said goodbye to Flo as she stood smoking by herself on the damp sidewalk.

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