October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. Delta airlines is into supporting the research in this area in a big way. Last week, while flying, I witness the power of a generous act in a whole new and inspiring way. A few minutes after I noticed my seatmate disappear, the flight attendant announced, “Good afternoon folks, we have just received a wonderful opportunity from one of your fellow passengers who has offered to double any donations made to the Breast Cancer Foundation during this flight today.”
The flight attendants and passengers were suddenly a buzz. I leaned over and said, “I suspect I know who is responsible for the chaos back there.” He smiled and said, “Yep, now everyone is thinking about breast cancer and how they can help. That’s all I want.” Ironically, it was five years ago almost to the day that I was in surgery for a double mastectomy. I offered him a personal thanks. He then shared he lost his 48 year old sister to breast cancer two years before and simply wanted to make a difference. Within 20 minutes, a flight attendant excitedly handed him a napkin that said, “$498.00.” Ron pulled out his checkbook and wrote a check for $1510.00. While he wanted others to think about breast cancer and finding a cure, I was thinking about how I can pay it forward and creatively be generous in my own world. What has inspired you to be generous? I’d love some great ideas so we can make generosity contagious. We really can make a difference.
Leave a Reply