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Committing to Daily Acts of Kindness Can Change Lives Committing to Daily Acts of Kindness Can Change Lives

By Sydni Eure

(TRACK 1)
A LIFE CHANGING MOMENT CAN HAPPEN ANY TIME AND ANY PLACE – FOR GAVIN COLLINS HE HELPED CHANGE A LIFE AT A STREET CORNER WHERE HE WOULD GIVE MONEY TO A HOMELESS MAN HE’D PASS BY EACH DAY ON HIS WAY TO WORK.

“It started off as hey, here you go. Then it started off as hey, how you doing. And then it was kinda like a regular shared dialogue. I’d give him some change and then he’d tell me a restaurant that I should try out or something like that.”

(TRACK 2)
ALTHOUGH IT WAS JUST A SMALL ACT OF KINDNESS FOR COLLINS – HE SAYS SOMETIMES THAT’S ALL A PERSON NEEDS TO TURN THINGS AROUND.

“He initially said – you kept me off the streets. He said that he had been struggling with drugs for a while and just like the extra money helped him out.”

(TRACK 3)
WORDS SHARED DURING THEIR LAST INTERACTION WITH EACH OTHER. COLLINS SAYS HE HASN’T SEEN THE MAN ON THE CORNER SINCE AND IS GRATEFUL HE WAS ABLE TO HELP CHANGE A LIFE.

“It was nice to see him in a progressed stage in his life. Kind of entering into a new beginning for himself.”

STAND UP
“So if one man’s idea to give can have this kind of an impact…imagine what even more people can do.”

“We’ve been doing this for seven years. Same stuff for seven years.
“I got baby food over there. We got grocery bags for families who need food for their household. A lot of socks right here for the community, a lot of socks for the community. We got plenty of clothes, plenty plenty plenty of clothes. We got game boards out here for the community. Brownies, chocolate chip cookies.”

(TRACK 5)
AL-AMIN MUHAMMAD IS THE FOUNDER OF THE OUTREACH PROGRAM WE RISE ABOVE THE STREETS AND SAYS IT’S ALL POSSIBLE THANKS TO ONE MAN – RONALD SANTOS. MUHAMMAD SAYS SANTOS ENCOURAGED HIM TO ENROLL IN THE CENTER FOR SELF SUFFICIENCY PROGRAM AFTER RECENTLY BEING RELEASED FROM PRISON.

“To find you a job and housing you had to be on the list. So it was a night that I was about to commit suicde and end my life and I seen mr. Santos Riding by and he stopped me and he told me to get in the car. We been looking for you. Your name is on the list.”

(TRACK 6)
THE EXACT PLACE MUHAMMAD WANTED HIS NAME TO BE AFTER BEING CHRONICALLY HOMELESS FOR SEVEN YEARS.

“God put you in crazy positions to get you where you at right now.”

(TRACK 7)
AND RIGHT NOW HIS ORGANIZATIONS HAS LOGGED OVER 90,000 SACK LUNCHES AND 50,000 HATS, GLOVES, OR JACKETS. ALL FOR COMMUNITY MEMBERS IN NEED.

“….DAY”

(TRACK 8)
A BEAUTIFUL DAY MUHAMMAD SAYS IS ALL POSSIBLE THANKS TO MR. SANTOS WHO COMMITTED HIS LIFE TO SAVING OTHERS. A CYCLE OF NEVER ENDING ACTS OF KIDNESS THAT MUHAMMAD BEGINS AGAIN EACH SANDWHICH STAURDAY AND COLLINS DOES EACH DAY ON HIS WAY TO WORK..

“Its kind of important to just kind of commit to acts of kindness. If you feel that urge like maybe i should just give him a change, watch what it does for you in the future.”

(TRACK 9)
Reporting in Syracuse. Im Sydni Eure. NCC News.

SYRACUSE N.Y. (NCC NEWS) —  Life changing moments can happen anywhere. Syracuse resident Gavin Collins found this to be true after seeing a homeless man on the corner each day on his way to work. Collins decided to stop daily and give some change to the man out the kindness of his heart. The interaction quickly grew into much more.

“It started off as hey, here you go,”  said Collins. “Then it started off as hey, how you doing. And then it was kind of like a regular shared dialogue. I’d give him some change and then he’d tell me a restaurant that I should try out or something like that.”

For Collins, giving to those in need is the least he can do. It’s something he now believes can even change lives.

“He initially said you kept me off the streets,” said Collins. “He said that he had been struggling with drugs for a while and just like the extra money helped him out.”

Collins gave and gave to the man on the corner until he stopped seeing him there. Randomly, the two bumped into each other at restaurant where the man was able to express his gratitude to Collins.

“It was nice to see him in a progressed stage in his life,” said Collins. “Kind of entering into a new beginning for himself.”

Collins is just one example of how one person can make a big difference. The founder of the non-profit organization We Rise Above the Streets, Al-Amin Muhammad, has a similar story at the foundation of his organization. After serving a prison sentence and being chronically homeless for seven years, Muhammad was encouraged to enroll in the Center for Self Sufficiency Program in Atlanta, Georgia by a man named Ronald Santos.

“When you’re trying to get into a shelter slash self sufficiency to find you a job and housing you had to be on the list,” said Muhammad. “So I signed my name on the list but it took a while for me to get in. Actually I gave up. So it was a night that I was about to commit suicide and end my life and I seen Mr. Santos riding by and he stopped me and he told me to get in the car. We been looking for you for weeks. Your name is on the list.”

The exact place Muhammad wanted his name to be at a life saving moment in time. A save that served as the catalyst for his community outreach program. Muhammad holds Sandwich Saturday’s each weekend. In the seven years this program has been going on, they have served over 90,000 sack lunches and given out over 50,000 hats, gloves or jackets to those in need.

Muhammad says that it is all possible thanks to Mr. Santos, the man who saved his life.

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