How’s this for a great start to 2020: a Centralia donor wants to kick the new year off by giving away ten grants of $500 each to local people, projects and groups that will make this community a better place.
The donor, who prefers to remain anonymous, sent me an email in response to my New Year’s column urging people to get involved in the myriad local efforts that make this a great place to live.
The donor is a bit confined by health problems and can’t get out to do the kind of work that she finds so valuable. There are many ways to serve, and she wants to be an encouragement and financial support for others with new or continuing projects.
She wrote:
“I am inspired by your column on encouraging people to volunteer in the community this year. As I also have an interest in helping people get involved in projects for the Common Good locally. I will make a proposal. I will offer ten grants of $500 each for projects in Centralia such as park improvements, art, tourism, aesthetics, signage, clean-up, history awareness or public events.”
In reference to the community’s recent recognition of the bicentennial of Centralia’s generous founder, she said that projects related to “Our George Washington” are particularly encouraged.
To apply for a grant or to ask questions, contact her at godsmoneyfoundation@gmail.com with a description of the project idea. She’s giving out her grants on a first-request, first-granted basis, so apply soon.
I’d like to thank this donor and thank all of you who are giving of your time, money and hard work to keep our community strong. Together, we flourish.
From Centralia to India
Speaking of giving for the common good, I learned this week that Centralia’s Anil Puri is in India, helping give polio vaccines to children. Puri is a member of the Twin Cities Rotary, and his trip is part of Rotary International’s goal of completely eradicating the scourge of polio from the face of the Earth.
So far, the plague of smallpox is the first and only disease to be completely eliminated, thanks to a deliberate and well-planned global immunization effort.
Health officials across the planet, with strong and enduring assistance from Rotary, are close to also wiping out polio. It’s hard work, especially as anti-vaccination sentiments boil up, but we’re making progress.
Polio was a terror in this country as late as the 1950s. I’m grateful that by the time I was born, it was mostly a memory in the United States. I give thanks for the countless people, like Puri and other Rotarians, who are working to get rid of this threat from the last few corners of the world where it still hides.
Diving to Save
And when it comes to service above self, I continue to marvel at what dedicated, trained and selfless people can accomplish, especially when times are tough.
I recently learned about Petty Officer 3rd Class Tyler Gantt, a Coast Guard aviation survival technician, who was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross last month in Alabama for some incredible rescue feats during Hurricane Harvey.
He received the U.S. military’s oldest aviation award for heroism in flight for rescuing 59 people in August 2017 as Houston, Texas was walloped by the hurricane and up to 60 inches of rain.
Gantt swam at night through 80-knot winds, ripped through a roof without a chainsaw to rescue people trapped in their home by rising waters, and was repeatedly hoisted more than a hundred feet into the air by a helicopter that was fighting turbulence and live power lines.
During that storm, he returned again and again to make dozens of rescues. At one point he dove from the roof of a home into swift-moving water to grab and save an infant who had been swept away from his father.
The Coast Guard lauded Gantt’s “courage, judgment, and devotion to duty in the face of hazardous flying conditions.”
Three others on his team also received medals, including the pilot, who managed to hover in 92-mph winds, navigate between towers and over high-voltage lines, and fly 14 hours of rescue operations.
While this kind of heroism in the face of incredible danger is far above what most of us face in our day-to-day lives, we all have opportunities to serve. I think all of us certainly see needs around us. I’d love to hear from you about folks in your lives who step up and lean in to help others and to support this great community. Service doesn’t need to be heroic to be important and commendable.
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Brian Mittge’s column appears in The Chronicle each Saturday. Drop him a line at brianmittge@hotmail.com.
