Day 356 | Forty Four
Day 356 | Forty Four
With all the noise able to be created on social media these days, there’s a lot of people yelling about how charitable they are. There’s a bloke here locally just doing amazing community work without the fuss. His name is Paul Hosking.
Earlier this year Paul was diagnosed with cancer, and while it would be fair for him to have hidden in a corner, he used the opportunity to fundraise and generated thousands in donations. But he doesn’t stop there. On Christmas Day, his ‘Hope at St Paul’s kitchen’ will feed up to 300 people. That’s pure giving in its finest form, making sure everyone feels the Christmas spirit.
Simone and I made a deal to ourselves earlier this year that we would donate a gift at Christmas for every sale that we had since opening the doors. A small gesture that symbolised the year. Those 44 gifts were donated to Paul today as promised but the impact was far greater than we first thought, and hit us both in the face like a bus.
On delivery, Paul gave us hugs. And not regular hugs either. Genuine, grateful hugs. He invited us in and told us stories that made us laugh, some that made us sad and others that made us shake our heads. The conversation was based around not knowing what people have been through, and about creating an environment where they can feel welcome, accepted and not judged. It was seriously heartwarming.
As we went to leave, he asked if we ate many eggs at home... and then ran to the kitchen to get us some eggs ‘for the road’ because they were blessed with an abundance of them. Accepting our gift meant he wanted to find something to give us in return. What a legend.
Paul, you’re one of a few good men around the place. Thanks for being a stellar human and bringing happiness to others. And that wife of yours, she’s the coolest.
#puregiving #hopeatstpaulskitchen #merrychristmas #kmartrun #hudson365