Posted in Donation, tagged $10, A Year of Giving, arts, D.C. Central Kitchen, DC, giving, nonprofits, play, Robert Egger, Street Sense, Theater, theatre, Washington DC, year of giving on July 28, 2012| 1 Comment »
Jeff displaying his $10 after the show. And yes, I know. My camera phone sucks. Photo: Reed Sandridge
So last Sunday we did a matinée show. It went really well and we had a good crowd for a Sunday afternoon. Celia Wren from the Washington Post was there and did a very nice review on A Year of Giving – check it out!
So at the show…I gave my $10 away to Jeff M. He’s a program analyst with the government – he told me which (more…)
Posted in Update, tagged $10, 20, Christmas, giving, holidays, homeless, micro-philanthropy, recipients, reunion, Street Sense, updates on December 25, 2011| 2 Comments »
-Blog post by Reed Sandridge of Washington, D.C.
Merry Christmas everyone! It seemed rather appropriate to make a post today – on a day that many of us associate with the spirit of giving. So now that your family room looks like a tornado went through it and destroyed an entire city built of wrapping paper, take a moment to enjoy a little update some holiday kindness investing.
At the end of December 2010 I stopped my year-long journey of giving away $10 a day. Well, sorta. I’ve found myself on many occasions giving a ten-spot away this year, I just chose not to write up the stories every day like I did last year. But this last week I did a little extra kindness investing.
I went out to meet up with a former colleague of mine, Jess, for lunch. I laugh because she say’s that I am one of two “famous” people she knows – the other is her brother who is an elementary school principal who is also a local legend singer/song-writer in Rochester, MN. Anyway, on my way over to meet her I decided to go run a few errands and I bumped into Kenneth B. from Day 30.
Normally I find him pacing back and forth hawking the Street Sense paper but this day he sat deep in a folding chair barking his familiar cadence, “Street Sense! … Street Sense!” I was in a bit of a hurry and didn’t want to be late to my lunch meeting but I did want to stop and wish Kenneth a happy holiday and give him a few dollars. As I left, I placed a twenty in his hand – $10 from a Year of Giving supporter in Havertown, PA which I matched with a ten of my own.
I then hopped on the Metro and headed downtown. On the train I started thinking that maybe it would be fun to do a little extra giving and I decided that I would give $10 to each person I passed that day who was asking for money. How much money would that add up to? I mean there are days that I feel like I am surrounded by panhandlers in this town.
As I reached the top of the escalators at Metro Center I saw a man with a plastic cup extended toward those exiting the station. I reached into my wallet, found a ten-dollar bill and handed it to him. “Thank you very much!” he said quickly as he tucked it into his cup.
Photo: Reed
After lunch I headed over to Macy’s to look for a gift I still needed to get. I was sure that I would give $10 to the Salvation Army bell-ringer – but to my surprise there was no bell-ringer in sight. But I did pass plenty of other people and before the day had ended I had passed nine more. One of those was Tommy B. – a Street Sense vendor who ended up being my $10 recipient on Day 155. He was doing well and was planning to head down to South Carolina the next day to spend Christmas with his sister. Like Kenneth, I gave him $20. This time I paid forward a $10 donation I had received from Marcio from New Zealand matched with $10 of my own. He was thankful and gave me a warm hug when I said goodbye.
It was a bit nostalgic giving away ten-spots for the day. Somehow it felt right given the holiday season – but as I have said before, it’s not just the holidays that people need help. They need it even on sunny days in June. So as we approach a new year I hope you will take a moment to think about how you might be able to help others and make a plan, even if it is just in your head, about what you will do. Nobody else needs to know, but it will help you stick with it. Drop me a note if you need some help.
Posted in Food & Beverage, tagged donations, homeless, homelessness, newspaper, smile, Street Sense on December 8, 2010| 3 Comments »
Still no major sponsor for the Year of Giving Anniversary event. Have spoken to a few law firms, they have passed. Had two corporate companies analyzing it too, one passed the other one now has completely gone silent. Although I try not to be bitter, the sad reality is that these companies spend this on business travel without batting an eye.
Lorrie at 13th & H Streets in DC
On a positive note, today’s recipient will make you smile. Her name is Lorrie and she is a Street Sense vendor who I met at 13th and H Streets in downtown Washington.
Lorrie has been selling the Street Sense newspaper since May and says that she loves it. Her wide smile and contagious laughter is still vivid in my memory. “I try to make everyone’s day,” she told me. Well she made mine!
Check out this short video of Lorrie and see her warm smile for yourself!
After meeting Lorrie, we have spoken a few times on the phone. She explained that even with her paper sales she is falling short of the income that she needs. If you would like to help Lorrie by making a donation, you can go to the online donation portal of Street Sense and make a donation. In the comments section just put what percentage of your donation you would like to go directly to Lorrie H.
Posted in Something for themself, tagged $10, DC, events, ex-con, Golden Triangle, jobs, night, nonprofits, poetry, prison, Street Sense, video, washington on November 4, 2010| 2 Comments »
David is one of the most interesting and talented individuals I have met this year. (photo: Reed)
You know that I love the Street Sense organization. Not only do I love what the paper and the organization stand for but I also have got to know many of their vendors and am honored today to call many of them my friends.
So when I heard about the Silent Auction benefit that Street Sense held to raise money for their organization, I made sure I was able to go. It was a great event and they raised a record amount, but what I will remember most is meeting David.
He was asked to share some of his spoken word poetry at the event. It was powerful. David is so talented and brought the house down. I knew he was my recipient of the day. Here is one of the poem’s he shared with the attendees of the Silent Auction.
After he was done I approached him while he was by himself having a bite to eat from the delicious food that was generously donated by Fresh Start, a venture created by Day 225’s Robert Egger and the DC Central Kitchen. David was so excited that I wanted to give him my $10 of the day that he started telling people around him. His enthusiasm was beautiful.
David shared that he was released from ADX Florence, a level-5 Supermax prison in Colorado about 18 months ago. “I shot a few people and threw them out of a window,” David told me picking at some fresh grapes on his plate. “I had to serve my sentence there because of the violent nature of the crimes,” he went on to explain. It was an odd juxtaposition. In front of me stood this kind smiling man with a deep warm laugh who was sharing this information that didn’t seem to jive with the gentle giant in front of me. He seems to be on the right track now; focusing on the positive.
Going through old photos I realized I had seen David once before. Here is a picture I took of him at the David Pike Awards. That's David on the left with Sam Ford of ABC7/WJLA-TV (phot:Reed)
David was homeless before serving his sentence and is homeless again. One good thing is that he just was able to rent a storage locker. “That’s a problem when you don’t have anywhere to keep your stuff safe,” says David. He explained that he needed to go buy a proper lock for it. “It costs $11, so I’m going to put this $10 toward the purchase of that lock!” I happily reached in my pocket and handed him one more dollar to fully cover the cost. He gave me a $100 smile.
David told me a story that I haven’t forgot. While in prison he befriended another inmate who was illiterate. Since David was good with words, this other inmate would have David write letters to his lady friend. David would read the letters that she would write and tell him what she said and then write back to her. “I was getting pretty interested in her,” he told me. Here he was vicariously falling for another guy’s girl all because some guy couldn’t read or write… that’s movie material! And a message for the kids, stay in school so other guys don’t steal your women while you are incarcerated!
I want you to watch David perform two of his other poems. They’re powerful and deal with heavy subjects.
David could use your help. He would like to find additional employment. “I’ve been cooking for years,” he said, but he would like to find something where he has more community engagement. I was very impressed with this man. He is one of the most interesting and talented people that I have met this year. Although he is not always at the same location, often times you can find him selling the Street Sense at 13th and Pennsylvania in northwest DC. Go visit him and tell him I sent you!
Posted in Food & Beverage, tagged $10, DC, gallery place, homeless, homelessness, international, Street Sense, washington on October 25, 2010| 3 Comments »
So you may have noticed 
that I have been slow posting blogs lately. Well, I have been swamped. But now something has complicated my blogging even more! I have a FLIP Mino HD camera that I use to shoot my video. It’s pretty awesome for the price range (about $200). HOWEVER, there is one thing that drives me crazy and has now twice brought my blogging to a crawl. Their current software versions only output the files in MP4 format. Previous versions of the software made an automatic conversion to Windows Media Video (WMV). The issue here is that the movie editor that comes with Windows and YouTube both don’t work with MP4 files, but do work with WMV. So now I can not edit or upload my videos.
I have spoken to their support team and they even rolled my software version back, but it has now automatically updated itself again. Aghhh!!! This cost me several hours last time it happened and will require several hours again. Maybe I should get a new camera…any suggestions?
So the bottom line is that I am skipping Days 295 and 296 for now. Sorry…have had to jump to 297 since this entry has no video.
On Day 297 I tried to give my $10 to an older gentleman in front of the Verizon Center. He refused and I walked a few blocks away to the corner of 9th and G Streets where I found Boyo. That’s actually not his real name but he was not comfortable with me using that. In fact he didn’t really want to share any details about himself. He didn’t want pictures taken either.
Boyo was selling the Street Sense newspaper in front of the Gallery Place Metro entrance. Born in London, he moved to his parent’s birth country of Nigeria at the age of five. At some point I guess he moved here, but he wouldn’t go into details about that. Boyo, who I managed to learn was 45, talked about putting his life story together in the form of a book and said that once he did that we could read it and learn all that we wanted to about him. But until then, he preferred to stay anonymous and advised me to speak with him through his “editor” which coincidentally is a person that I know. Small world.
Anyway, I did get Boyo to tell me what he would use the money for. He said he would get something to eat.
I gave him an extra dollar and bought one of his newspapers and caught the 42 bus home.
Posted in Alcohol, Food & Beverage, tagged $10, DC, food, homeless, homelessness, mental illness, Street Sense, unemployment, washington on September 7, 2010| 3 Comments »
Harvey, 42, suffers from mental illness and has been homeless for about a year. (photo: Reed)
On any given night some 671,000 people in the United States, of which 5,320 are located in DC, are homeless according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness. Harvey is one of them.
I saw him sitting on the ground next to the entrance to McDonald’s on M Street between 19th and 20th Streets in Northwest. On his lap was a sign that read, “A man in need is a man without greed. Please help.” Next to him was a styrofoam container of food and a bag of personal items.
I met Harvey while he was eating lunch. (photo: Reed)
“I’ve been homeless here in DC for about a year now,” Harvey tells me as he eats some ribs that he purchased for his lunch. Originally from Lancaster, PA, Harvey said he came down to DC with the hope of a job but his plans were shot after being robbed at Union Station upon arriving here. “I lost everything I had – some $2,600 in cash.”
He says that he feels lucky in the sense that people often help him. “I usually get about $30 a day out here.” Harvey says that gets support from people from a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds and races with one exception: Asians. “I don’t know why but Orientals never help me out.” He goes on to tell me that people who appear to be lower glass give more often than those who appear to be middle and upper class.
As we talked two people stopped to help Harvey out. One was a young attractive professional who dropped some coins in his cup as she walked by. The other was a British woman who stopped and asked if she could get him some food. A few minutes later Jane returned from the McDonald’s with a bag that contained a Big-Mac, fries and a chocolate milkshake. She even gave him the change from whatever amount she had used to pay for the food. I asked her why she helped and she said that she felt very fortunate and that the least she could do is help someone else out. “He’s down on his luck and I am able to help him out, that’s it.”
Harvey says that he has noticed that people’s response varies on the sign that he uses. “One time I had a sign that said, ‘Please spare help for a worthless piece of shit.’ I made $60 that day.” Although he was happy for the money he made that day, he stopped using the sign. “I’m not a worthless piece of shit though; it’s hard to sit here behind that sign when you know that isn’t the truth.”
photo: Reed
He says that being on the streets has taught him survival skills. “You have to take care of yourself, especially in the winter. You learn how to use things like cardboard to help you stay warm.” He also told me that he often has to shower in public fountains. “I just bought some soap today, I try to stay clean.”
Harvey, who says he has five sisters and three brothers, isn’t in regular contact with most of his family. “They don’t care about others.” He also doesn’t seem to have any friends in DC. “I don’t associate with too many people.”
He goes on to say that some of his challenges are a result of his mental illness. “Most homeless suffer from sort of mental problem or physical problem. I’m bipolar.” Harvey says that he has often thought about committing suicide. He doesn’t take any medication to help with his mental illness either.
He told me that he was going to use the ten dollars to get him some food over the next couple days and also buy a couple of beers for the evening. “I don’t do any drugs or hard liquor. The hard stuff makes me suicidal,” Harvey confessed.
I shook his hand and wished him luck. He mentioned some items that he needs and I have added them to the Lend a Hand page.
If you would like to help the homeless in Washington, DC, I encourage you to support your local Street Sense vendor or make a donation through their website.
Posted in Food & Beverage, tagged chile, community, DC, earthquake, happiness, hats, homeless, hope, jobs, Street Sense, washington on February 28, 2010| 3 Comments »
Terrible news from Chile…another devastating earthquake shocks us this year. Luckily the epicenter was not in as densely of a populated area like it was in Haiti. Nonetheless, I have made myself available to travel to Chile if there is a relief organization that can use my services. I speak Spanish and have been to Chile and would welcome the opportunity to help those in need.
Phillip sells a paper to a passerby (Photo: Reed S.)
On Day 75 I met Phillip, a colorful salesman for Street Sense. I was driving north on Wisconsin Ave. in the Tenleytown neighborhood on my way to my father’s place in Pennsylvania when I saw a man on the right side of the road with a “Cat in the Hat” type hat. Well, I had to pull over and meet this guy.
As it turns out Phillip is a Street Sense vendor and the hat is part of his “marketing.” He is vendor number 202 and has been selling the paper for 2.5 years. He told me that summer is the best time of year for selling the paper when he can often sell over his average of 30-40 papers a day.
Phillip is homeless and on two waiting lists for subsidized housing. “You would not believe how many people are one or two paychecks away from being homeless,” says the former plumber whose problems started when he was hospitalized with stomach ulcers and bleeding. He spent 17 days in the hospital and when he came out he found himself losing his home and his marriage in peril. He got better, but unfortunately was not able to reconcile his marriage. Financially he was in freefall and ended up on the streets.
Go see Phillip if you are in DC. He radiates love and kindness. He can be found in front of the CVS near the intersection of Wisconsin Ave. and Brandywine St. Look for the hat! Phillip needs clothes: Shirts (XL), Pants (38×34), Shoes/Boots (11), Gloves (Med/Large).
Here is a great video clip of Phillip explaining how he stays indoors during the bitter cold months.
There is another great video of Phillip on Facebook. Click here to see it.
Update July 7, 2010: Here is some video of Phillip receiving some of your donations!
Posted in Rent, tagged $10, counseling, DC, domestic problems, driving, homeless, snow, Street Sense on February 9, 2010| 2 Comments »
I didn’t think that the driving situation could get worse than yesterday…but I stand corrected. Today there were way more amateur drivers venturing out into the snowy mess. I helped dig out and push five cars. Most of the people were not used to driving in the snow. Sadly one of them was a taxi driver who was completely clueless about driving in the snow (in his defense, he was from East Africa).
I was surprised at how few people offered to help. One time a maintenance man at a nearby building offered to help. His name was Chavez…I tried to give him $10 after we got the person unstuck, but he politely refused and said the next time I saw him he would accept. I will be looking for you Chavez!
I later found Roger, a Street Sense salesman, at the Farragut North Metro entrance. Roger is 58 and lives in DC. He has been living with his brother-in-law for about four months after he had some serious problems with his wife and daughter that lead to his wife changing the locks. “That’s a bad sign” he tells me. Yea…I would have to agree with you Roger. Now his brother-in-law is also asking him to leave. He is not sure where he will go after Feb 11th.
He says he will keep my $10 and add it to his savings to hopefully pay for housing/shelter.
Roger seems very nice. I shot a little bit of video of him that you can see here.
Want to help Roger out? Here are a couple of things he needs:
If you can help with any of these things, let me know and I can contact Roger.
Posted in Rent, tagged $10, homeless, Street Sense, success, zazzle on February 3, 2010| 3 Comments »
You may remember that zazzle.com offered to make cool business cards for me for free!!! Yep, I got them yesterday. They look great. I will take a picture of them and post it later this week. Zazzle’s site is cool, you create your own designs (for all kinds of things, not just business cards) and can then post them in public libraries of content, making it available for purchase and customization by other visitors to the site. Very cool!
On Monday I got my official authorization from the DC government to perform Ryan and Mandy’s wedding! Finally. On my way home, I decided to walk part of the way home. As I walked north on 7th Street, I saw a Street Sense vendor at the North East corner of 7th and E.
Ivory displays the latest copy of Street Sense
I really like interacting with the Street Sense sales people and I try to see if I know this vendor. Peaking out of his hooded jacket, Ivory’s eyes look out above his glasses and meet mine. He smiles, revealing a shiny tooth with 4 diamonds on it. I have not met Ivory (badge number 102) before and decide to give him my $10.
Ivory is a very interesting guy. He started selling Street Sense 3 years ago on the corner of 7th and E and has grown his clientele significantly now. His clients have helped Ivory get out of the shelter and into an apartment in Arlington that he shares with a roommate.
Ivory is an artist. He paints his canvass with words…whether it be the spoken word or his written fictional stories that he has published. That’s right, he has over 25 published stories and has written a book that sold 500 copies. You can browse through old issues at the Street Sense site to find his articles or better yet, start buying the paper and look out for his next story, Galaxy Baseball.
So what is he doing on the streets?! I am not sure, I didn’t discover that yet. He tells me that he is originally from Texas, where he grew up to be a rodeo bull rider. Sounds dangerous…but so is flirting with homelessness. Ivory takes it in stride though. He eventually made it to DC and seems to be on the right path.
Everyone knows Ivory. A minute doesn’t go by while I am talking to him that somebody doesn’t greet him. His eyes are always scanning the faces that fill the streets. A man stops and Ivory gets excited as he tells me that he was one of the key people who got him started 3 years ago. The man gives him a dollar. In the following clip, Ivory talks a little bit about how he got his start at 7th and E Street.
Ivory said he was going to use the $10 to go toward rent.
For those of you in DC, go visit Ivory and help him out. For those who are not in the area, I will try to post some more video.
As I was writing up my blog, I found a story about Ivory in the Washington Post from March 16, 2008. It sheds a little more light on his life and the path that led him to be homeless. There is also a write-up on Street Sense.
Ivory alerts me that it is almost 5:00pm and he needs to start paying attention to the foot traffic as the after work rush hour begins to buzz by. He snaps into action to meet and greet his friends and customers and I am on my way.
Posted in Food & Beverage, tagged bipolar, business cards, CRF, earthquake, Embassy of Haiti, haiti, homeless, newspaper, poor, post traumatic stress, schizoffective, Street Sense, World Neighbors, zazzle on January 14, 2010| 3 Comments »
Today was a busy day!
I had an informative meeting with a friend of a friend on how to effectively incorporate twitter into my Year of Giving. Look for this being added to the site soon. Then I had a meeting with World Neighbors, a very impressive international development organization whose focus is to eliminate hunger, poverty, and disease in the poorest, most isolated rural villages in the developing world. I urge you to check out their website and support their fantastic work. Then I met up with Jenny from Day 13 to follow up on her thoughts about being a recipient of the Year of Giving and
Jenny from Day 13 in front of Kramerbooks where I met her
how her job search is going. As you might remember, several YoG blog readers commented on suggestions for her to find work in the international public health sector. Thanks to all that helped! I should have a short video posted on Facebook soon where Jenny talks about her reaction to the Year of Giving as well as her own altruistic pledge!
Finally I went to the Embassy of Haiti to volunteer my time and resources to any efforts that they may have. As I approached the embassy I was greeted by news trucks and a small memorial of candles and paintings. Inside the embassy there was a very uncomfortable vibe. Somber yet frantic if you can imagine. The hustle and bustle of people was occasionally broken up by tears and desperation. While I was there, I gave away my $10 to Gilles, a Haitian-American who lost his mother in the earthquake. It was a very moving experience. I will give a full report on Gilles tomorrow.
I have been so busy, that I have not updated the blog on yesterday’s recipient…so here goes.
On day 30 I found Kenneth selling Street Sense at the Dupont Circle Metro entrance. I bought a paper for $1.00 from the 43-year-old and asked if I could talk to him about a project I was doing. He agreed and grabbed his personal items and suggested we have a seat nearby on a bench. Kenneth is cheerful and full of energy.
Kenneth selling Street Sense at the Dupont Circle Metro entrance
Before I finish telling you about my gift to Kenneth, let me say a few more words about Street Sense. Street Sense is a great paper produced twice a month that is mostly run and written by those who are homeless or below the poverty level in DC. You might recall David from Day 5 who was also selling Street Sense. I have seen the Street Sense sales people for years, but never bought the paper. Since I bought my first copy from David, I have really become a fan. The paper is short and can be read in one sitting. The stories are great and really give you insight into the DC homeless and poverty issues. Sixty-five cents goes to the vendor and thirty-five cents goes to the paper. The next time you see a sales person, stop, say hello, and buy an issue. It’s a dollar! These people are making an honest buck and the paper is great. Here’s a little bit of trivia too. Check out their vendor ID number and you can tell how long they have been at Street Sense. They go sequentially from when they started so you might meet someone who has been there since the early days back in 2003 when it was started if they have a number under 20 for example.
Back to Kenneth. He shared with me that he suffered from various conditions (bipolar, schizoaffective, and post traumatic stress) and as a result was living in a community residence facility (CRF), which is like an assisted living situation. Although he said he wished that he could live on his own, I sensed that he understood that living in the CRF would help him get the most out of life.
He enjoys selling the paper. On good days, he sells his 20 papers within 2-3 hours. Occasionally he gets the opportunity to mentor young professionals who want to experience what it is like to work for a nonprofit organization – he says he really enjoys that.
I am mindful that my time with Kenneth is keeping him from selling his papers and wrap up our conversation. He says he will spend the money on food this week. I asked him if I could take his picture and he smiled and happily said that was fine. He quickly went back to work hawking the remaining papers. I encourage everyone who uses the Dupont Circle Metro to keep and eye out for Kenneth. He is usually at the corner of 20th and Q. Say hello, get a paper, and tell him that I sent you! If you don’t live in the DC area, check to see if your city has a newspaper dedicated to the poor and homeless, lots of urban areas have them!
One final note, I heard back from Zazzle.com about sponsoring business cards for the Year of Giving. They were delighted to help and will be shipping me 500 cards shortly! THANK YOU!!! Check out there site. They have an interesting business model and do all kinds of other personalized items (clothes, mugs, etc.).
Posted in Refusals, Transportation, tagged Albuquerque, Catholics, Celtic, Christopher McCandless, French Foreign Legion, Glasgow, hooligan, Into the Wild, Légion Etrangère, Montana, New Mexico, Protestants, Rangers, sectarianism, Sicherheitsdienst, Starbucks, Street Sense, US Air Force on December 19, 2009| 20 Comments »
Davie manages a smile despite the ice sickles that have formed in his beard.
Today’s recipient embodies the very spirit of the mission that I set out to serve. I hope that you enjoy this one as much as I enjoyed meeting with Davie.
I had mixed emotions about heading out today to find a recipient due to the eight inches (and counting) of snow that has fallen. Daniela and I decided to venture out and see who we would find. The first person we approached declined to participate, she said she was very skeptical of any type of “offer” that she receives from people that she does not know.
A few minutes later we saw a Street Sense vendor. Street Sense is a newspaper which serves as a vehicle for elevating voices and public debate on issues relating to poverty while also creating economic opportunities for people who are experiencing homelessness in the community. David, a Scottish lad from Glasgow in his twenties who came here to pursue the “American dream,” was sporting an ice sickle laden beard. I explained what I was doing and he agreed to accept my $10.
I could probably write a year’s worth of blogging just on Davie. What an interesting person he is. He left Glasgow back in the spring and arrived in Baltimore and made his way to California. Then he decided to make his way back east. With virtually no money, he managed most of his journey by bus, hitchhiking, walking, and whatever else you could imagine. He arrived in DC in early October and is living on the streets near 14th and H. Davie is joining the US military to go serve in Iraq and Afghanistan. Aside from paying fairly well, there is a program that you receive US citizenship if you complete so many years of service, I believe Davie told me it was four years. He hopes to depart in a few weeks.
I asked Davie what he was going to do with the $10 and he said he was going to put it toward a bus ticket to NYC to complete some things he needs to enlist and go abroad.
As I said, I could go on about Davie…but will just make a brief list of the interesting things I have learned about him.
I feel like I could go on forever….but I have to bring this to a temporary closing for now. We were chatting in front of a Starbucks that had closed do to the weather. There was something sharply ironic in standing with a man who has $23 to his name and watch dozens of Washingtonians nudge by us only to see that the Starbucks was closed and hear them grumble that they can not get their $5 Skinny Hazelnut Latte with soy milk.
Snow blanketed the DC area
We finally stopped our chat, as it was very cold and the snow was making my little 5” x 3” notebook nearly illegible. I wish everyone out there could spend time with Davie. He is an eccentric fellow who reminds me a little of Christopher McCandless (Into the Wild) in his abandonment of material goods in exchange for his exploration of the US. I got his email address and begged him to keep me posted on how things go. He uses the internet at the public library, which was unfortunately closed today due to the snow storm. I hope he comments here for you all to get a taste of who this very interesting young man is. I will keep you posted on his adventures as well.
UPDATE Jan. 25, 2010: You can see a video update with Davie on Facebook.
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| 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | ||
 | Reed Sandridge on Day 19 – John S. |
| Reed Sandridge on Day 32 – Garland L. |
| Reed Sandridge on Day 1 – Where to be… |
 | Shannon on Day 32 – Garland L. |
 | Amy Boardman on Day 1 – Where to be… |
Year of Giving 