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“IF THE CROWS CAN DO IT, SO CAN WE"

A TRUE STORY

 When I was 13 years old, my friend and I were on the balcony of the third floor of my apartment building. We were using a pellet gun to shoot pigeons for fun. A cruel thing to do, I know now. Growing up, we must have missed this understanding. I don’t remember who it was, but one of us shot a crow. The crow was wounded and was falling from the tree that it was perched on. My friend and I ran down the stairs because we wanted to catch him alive. It took us some time to get down to the street, but we arrived there just in time to see an amazing site, that till this day, I have not forgotten. A flock of crows came down from the trees to help it's fellow crow. Of course, the crows could not physically bring him to safety, but they motivated him to save himself. The wounded crow found the power to at least fly back into the safety of the tree, even though he was wounded.

This vision impacted me very much, and through the years, I remembered telling the story many times. I would say,“If the crows can do it, SO CAN WE."

I have lived in L.A. for the last 22 years. I have seen the rising number of homeless people living in the streets, both in rich and poor neighborhoods. It breaks my heart to see this. I have heard many arguments about this situation, some sound logical but not compassionate! I know most of the homeless are mentally ill; some will never be able to come back to live a normal life in our society. No matter what, though they don’t have to live undignified lives while we are around them. So I decided to do something about it! I am going to start a web site and a movement that will cover each block of our city and hopefully the entire nation. Find these needy people and personally help them, while involving the community block by block. I personally know of about 7 men and women whom I see on a daily basis living in the street. They lack food, warmth, clothing, medical attention and most of all, a hand reached to them with hope and compassion. It’s not only going to help them if we get involved, it will also  help us feel better about ourselves. It will teach our children a lesson that they will carry on from one generation to the next. We will be greater people, in this greatest nation, on God's green earth.

I urge you to contact me immediately and get involved. My idea of help is not necessarily money. I'd like to see these people being approached personally by the people of our communities on a regular basis with food, drinks, clean clothing, and medical help/first aid. Most importantly, a smile and a few kind words will tough their hearts and give them the feeling that they are not alone. Even if they choose to live in the street, they will always have food, clean clothing, and a warm blanket to protect themselves from the cold night. Someone will always visit them and ask for them. In the Jewish faith there is a famous saying, “If you save one soul it is like you have saved the entire world." If we can bring hope and love to them and pass on our light only to some of them, we did a great thing. Again not only for them, but for ourselves and for our children too.