Jack McConnell’s Generosity

My wife and I read a book together called, “Love as a Way of Life” by Gary Chapman. Here’s an excerpt in the chapter on “Generosity” that I’d like to share

Dr. Jack McConnell grew up in “the last house in the holow” in the coal mining community of Crumpler, West Virginia. His father never earned more than $150 a month and never owned a car, yet during the Depressin, McConnell’s parent’s often served lunch to forty or fifty people a day. Drifters riding the rails saw a mark on the McConnells’ front gate and knew that they could find food there. “We didn’t have much,” McConnell says, “but we had a big garden and they could pick corn and tomatoes and we would find a chicken somewhere and make a meal for  everyone.” McConnell remembers that one of his father’s favorite questions to his seven children at the dinner table was: “And what have you done for someone today?”

That spirit of giving made a lasting impression. Today the retired Dr. McConnell is known for starting a clinic on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, that provides free medical care to those who can’t afford it. He donates his time to helping thousands of “friends and neighbors who don’t feel well” and inspiring other local retired doctors and nurses to give their time too. The success of theVolunteers in Medicine has led to the formation of more than fifty similar clinics nationwide. When asked how he likes working for nothing. McConnell responded, “I make a million dollars every day. What i get from this clinic you can’t buy with money.”

1. What have you done for someone today?
2. Is government health care really our only answer?
3. Are you happier with what you’ve kept or with what you’ve given?
4. How are you showing your children what Generosity means?