Do the right thing
By Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
Updated Thu December 17, 2015
Yesterday, I gave a dollar to a homeless veteran. Sue me.
I'm hardly a bleeding heart myself but it always shocks me the vitriol some folks display toward those less fortunate. Ranting about freeloaders (yes, there are freeloaders) and welfare cheats (those, too!) and, here in Portland where there is a large immigrant community, what the misinformed refer to as ILLEGALS (ever notice people who rant, tend to do so in capital letters?).
Really?
And yes, there are better ways to give money then handing out the occasional buck. For example, the other day our office manager, the capable Erika, sent out her yearly email reminder for today's annual silent auction which raises funds for the Good Shepard Food Bank. We do little bits of this year round, but today's the last minute push to boost that total. I've got my bid in on a tequila set and I think I have a good chance around these lightweights.
As usual it's been another year of reporting the ups and downs of the HME industry, but through it all, providers continue to amaze me with their resilience, their generosity and their belief in doing the right thing.
For your holiday reading enjoyment, below are links to two of my favorite stories from this year, as well as a handful I dug up from the archives.
Delivery driver saves man, daughter from river
Mission accomplished: Provider Tom Polston reunites with fellow veterans
What a trip: Providers help veterans fly
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