Don’t just think about making a difference, do it

Don’t just think about making a difference, do it

EDITOR:

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to change places with someone rich or famous? Wouldn’t it be fun to be Oprah or Bill Gates for a day? It’s fun to think about what it would be like to be someone else. As grandmother used to say, “It doesn’t cost a dime to dream.”

We would ask you to think about trading places with Joe Kaluza. You may not recognize Joe’s name but we are guessing you have heard his story. He was brutally shot during a staged robbery and the bullet left him paralyzed from the neck down. The story only gets worse when you realize he is the sole means of support for his wife and his two special needs children. In a second, Joe’s life was changed forever. As a community, we will never be the same either. This act of violence could have been directed at any one of us or someone we love.

Imagine, hearing the phone ring and not being able to answer it. Imagine wanting to scratch your nose and knowing you can’t. Imagine not being able to feed yourself. Imagine the feeling of being trapped in your own body, every waking second, of every minute, of every single day. Imagine worrying about medical bills that are larger than your net worth. we are guessing nobody is lining up to change places with Joe.

As parents, we work hard to instill good values in our children. We want them to be better off and we want them to be better people. We aren’t raising children, we are raising future adults. We should expect our neighbors to share the same type of values. We should want more for Youngstown, because it is a great area with numerous assets. From YSU to Mill Creek Park, from Lordstown to The Chevy Centre, from the Canfield Fair to the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, the area has it all. We should be proud to call all of these Youngstown institutions our own.

As area businessmen who live in the community, we feel an obligation to help Joe while helping the Youngstown area as a whole. That is why we have introduced a very special ice cream and launch an ongoing campaign called, “Youngstown’s All Heart.” By donating $2 to this campaign; you will receive a red bracelet that will show everyone you believe we can all do a little more to help those in our community. By wearing the bracelets, you are calling others to do the same. It is a call to all of us to “Do More” and “Be More.” By helping Joe, we might all feel better about doing something for someone who is less fortunate. By making a difference in someone else’s life, you’ll be making a difference in your own.

We are asking everyone who reads this to think about what you can do to make a difference, not only in Joe’s life but in your own. By “Doing More” you will “Become More.” Let’s make a better future for Joe, his family, and the Youngstown area.

To initiate change we must be willing to put change in motion. It won’t happen unless we make it happen. Your help is needed to show Joe and our community that there is still good in this world and that good could trump evil. Let us show the world what we have known for generations, that “Youngstown’s All Heart!”

LEONARD J. FISHER, President

JAMES L. BROWN, COO

Handel’s Homemade Ice Cream

Youngstown