Reed Sandridge lost his job last year and took up a new hobby. He gives away $10 every day to someone who looks as if they could use it, a different person every day. And Sandridge expects nothing in return but a good feeling.
Sandridge is using his savings and his unemployment benefits for the giveaways. Some of the folks he gives money to use it to help others. He tells stories of the people he meets in his blog, which has led others to help them out as well. Link to story. Link to blog. -via Digg
(image credit: Katherine Frey/the Washington Post)
His mom, the daughter of a coal miner whom he remembers most for her kindness, always told him that when you're going through tough times, that's when you most need to give back.
So not long after he was laid off, on the third anniversary of his mom's death, he started his "year of giving," documenting each $10 gift in a small black notebook and then blogging about the people he meets. By Day 94, he had given away almost $1,000, handing out money in blizzards, in rainstorms, on the sunniest of days.
Sandridge is using his savings and his unemployment benefits for the giveaways. Some of the folks he gives money to use it to help others. He tells stories of the people he meets in his blog, which has led others to help them out as well. Link to story. Link to blog. -via Digg
(image credit: Katherine Frey/the Washington Post)
@Max... if you read his blog, he is not a millionaire, nor was his mother. He was working at a nonprofit up until he got laid off due to the economic crisis.
@Kelly... I don't get your comment. I don't feel as if he has any expectations when he is giving...that is what makes it so great. Just because he happens to feel good as a result doesn't mean that he had an expectation...and even if he had an expectation to feel good, that is hardly something I would fault him over.
It's too bad there are so many cynics in this world. We need more like this guy!
2 months ago the government created around 40 jobs in our town. I was rejected because I was long-term unemployed... but had not been registered on the dole for the minimum term required to apply.
Losing out on money AND work? I signed on the next day.
To counter that lightly profound comment, yes, it is a bit douchy he's giving away other people's money. At least he's not spending it on drugs. Unless the people he gives it to do...
It's not charity, it's not even welfare. It's just insurance. If you have a car wreck and get a check from your car insurance to repair your car, people don't accuse you of spending "other people's money," do they?
One more point: Giving changes a person profoundly. It is great for the psyche to give. An unemployed person can feel pretty useless, but giving can give that person a sense of being worth placing on the planet. If for nothing else, it's worth that alone to give even when one is in need.
@Gail Pink, my sentiments exactly. We all should take this example and apply it.
@Kelly, that is a pretty lame and cynical comment. It is very sad that something so positive stirs such negativity with you. I hope that someday you will have the ability to trust in the rarely seen but innate goodness of man.
@Dgrits, FYI, that is not your or any other persons "tax money". Our income taxes don't go toward unemployment. Our personal unemployment tax payments go towards unemployment. Hence, if you have not worked an adequate amount of hours in the previous years you are ineligible for benefits, clearly not freeloading. He is basically reaping the benefits sewn through his own previous labor. Has nothing to do with anyone else's contributions or benefits.
SenorMysterioso He is giving away HIS OWN money. As a payroll employee, he paid into the EDD system, unemployment insurance. Now unemployed, he is collecting the money that he paid in. If he had not earned enough or contributed enough, he would not be eligible to collect unemployment.
Also, it is better that he withholds -for the moment- from giving small amounts of cash to strangers who will just buy coke or some other junk food that makes their health worse,...AND use that money to start an online business...so that 3 - 6 months later...he will have MORE TO GIVE...AND CAN HELP THEM MORE...
Again, this is just me...I started UNEMPLOYED...did the above and created a successful business...NOW I HAVE MORE power to help others.
MOST PEOPLE DON'T GET THIS.
Do the right thing because it is the right thing to do, not because you feel good about it. I don't think that is cynical, what makes you think I am?
This is the cynical part, must be nice to collect unemployment insurance and then give it away. He collects because he feels it is owed to him. Who is cynical?
Another story about a man who gave his KIDNEY away.
Which deserves the attention on Neatorama?
The great thing about people giving to each other and helping each other is that it enriches two lives at the same time, unlike many of our actions which further someone's interests at the expense of others'.
http://giveyourstuffaway.com
Thanks.
While I think it's admirable that he's trying to help others with what is rightfully his to collect (it IS insurance, not welfare!) I understand some of the cynicism expressed here.
It would be better if he kept it to himself (the blogging about it), and if someone ELSE praised him for it, let it be made known that way. By doing that, he would be staying humble, and above reproach.
I personally disagree with the government giving tax deductions for charitable giving. That, too, is expecting something in return.