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By Ozman
The last four thousand years of human civilization have taken us from tribalism to religiosity, to a world steeped in a political “us versus them” mentality, to an age of economic thinking which still dominates much of society, but Les Winston of the Endow America Network Foundation believes whole-heartedly that we are transitioning into what he calls an “era of human kindness” primarily led by younger people. His organization promotes Section 664 of the Internal Revenue Code as a beneficial supplement to the Social Security program. Section 664 which he terms “Social Secharity,” seeks to endow America through the age old concept of philanthropy, the love of human kind. On his latest podcast special, Les and his co-host Wanda interviewed Brad Aronson, author of the book Human Kind, Changing the World One Small Act at a Time. In his book, Brad draws upon his own experience helping his wife win her battle with leukemia, and the small acts of kindness which changed their lives, and how such simple acts paid forward can revolutionize society’s mindset for a brighter future.
During the discussion, Brad promotes what he calls the “human kindness hall of fame,” where he describes places and opportunities where one person can make a world of difference in another person’s life and, thereby, change society one kind act at a time. He goes on to vividly describe the inspiration for his book, drawing upon his experience during his wife Mia’s struggle through chemotherapy and how the nurses really were the ones to help them get through the entire process. They suggested the couple attend a conference for young cancer patients and their caregivers. Brad expresses his and his wife’s reluctance at first, attending a weekend conference being the last thing they wanted to do after getting half way through two and a half years of Mia’s intense treatment. Nonetheless, they are grateful to have gone, because it was at this conference that they met someone who had gone through the exact same situation that Mia did, giving them life changing advice which helped them keep the family busy. She said that if they had 2 years of chemo treatment ahead of them they needed to come up with projects to give them purpose and something to do while spending so much time in hospitals. Mia began to write her own journal; their son decided to play one hundred days straight of wiffle ball, while Brad took to writing about small but life-saving acts of kindness. Through all the dark times, there were plenty of moments Brad questioned why they were going through this situation, but the support of all the people around them helped him realize how lucky they truly were.
These kinds of stories are the very reason why Les Winston started the Endow America Network Foundation, and the Social Secharity initiative that he hopes will attract more attention in the coming years, enough to make a lasting impact on the lives of countless Americans and leave a more prosperous economy for our children and grandchildren to inherit. For more information visit www.socialsecharity.org and like us on Facebook; you can also watch discussions like this one via YouTube on the channel Community Newspapers.
Lesley Winston is a graduate from North Miami High School and the University of Miami. He has been in the insurance and financial services industry for over 40 years in Miami. He can be reached at lwinston@winifs.com.
