Why I Sponsor – Unworthy Hero

The word “humbling” is overused today. Whenever a celebrity receives an award anymore, it seems they say they are “humbled” – even if they don’t always sound humble when they say it! But there is no more truly humbling experience than to travel to Haiti to meet the children you support as a High Hopes for Haiti sponsor. These children live in poverty the likes of which Anne and I had never seen before — a world of open sewers and routine child mortality that we in the U.S. cannot even contemplate. These kids have every reason in the world to be bitter and resentful. But they are not, not one bit. Instead, they are filled with joy – and they radiate unconditional love. Indeed, never have my wife Anne and I felt undeserved, unconditional love more powerfully than in the schoolyard at Les Bons Samaritains when we visited last November. As the children swarmed around us, the most beautiful smiles radiating from their innocent faces, we both felt like unworthy heroes. We felt unworthy because we have so much and they have so little and we had given so little, in the scheme of things. And yet, by giving a modest amount from our surplus of gifts, we were heroes to them. And they gave us a joy that forever will be etched on our hearts. For both of us, it ranked as one of the most powerful and rewarding experiences of our lives.