ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, December 25, 1995 TAG: 9512260026
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-15 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE: JEB BUSH AND BRIAN YABLONSKI
THE HOLIDAYS are a good time to remember that there still are heroes in our midst - contrary to the naysayers - and to reflect on the fact that the solutions to our problems ultimately lie not with the government but in daily acts of simple virtue.
In our home state of Florida, you will find some of America's greatest profiles in character, in places where you might least expect to find them. Take Delwyn Collins, a kitchen worker in Tampa General Hospital. On most days, you will find Delwyn mopping floors or washing dishes. But each year, Delwyn devotes a large portion of his earnings from his $6-per-hour job to support the Angel Tree program, which provides toys for orphans and foster children in the Tampa area.
For years, Delwyn has pulled dozens of paper angels from the hospital's Angel Tree: Each angel bears the name of an orphan or foster child who does not experience a Christmas with family members, or the joys - and toys - that attend the holiday. They become Delwyn's children.
Last year, he pulled 35 of the paper ornaments from the Angel Tree. Delwyn doesn't drive a car, so he brings toys to the hospital by pulling them on a flatbed wagon or loading them in a basket on his bicycle. His quiet acts of compassion caught the attention of his community. In 1995, Hillsborough County overlooked a number of local politicians who were nominated and presented its Moral Courage of the Year Award to this soft-spoken kitchen worker.
At a time when Americans are terribly worried about a host of social problems, people like Delwyn Collins remind us not only of what can be done by just one person - but that we don't have to wait for a government program. For a long time now, many people have been looking to government to solve their problems. But, as the heroes among us demonstrate, the betterment of society starts from the bottom up, through virtuous individuals and families and communities, not from the top down through more government.
Talk to children who inhabit the home of Dorothy Perry, dubbed ``the Mother Theresa of public housing.'' For 20 years, Perry has been a surrogate mother to children whose parents were strung out on crack or alcohol, or worked three jobs and had no energy left for parenting. Her ``Youths Progressing'' program offers meals, clothes, and a safe haven for more than 35 abused or displaced kids, ranging in ages from one to 21.
``I think this program saved my life,'' says James Holley, 20. ``My mother was having problems with drugs, and the state was talking about taking me from her. I didn't have anywhere to go.'' James is now working toward his high-school general equivalency diploma.
Another virtuous citizen can be found sitting at his desk in an eighth-grade classroom at Osceola Middle School. While most children his age are busy playing sports or electronic video games, 13-year-old David Levitt has been caring for the needy. Two years ago, David figured out that school cafeterias have a lot of leftover lunch food - and he devised a way for local public schools to donate their unused food to the hungry. On his 12th birthday, he made his case before the Pinellas County School Board and won approval for his idea.
For months, David fought a Goliath of bureaucratic red tape and government regulations. His slingshot prevailed: Today, more than 80 of the 92 schools in Pinellas County donate their leftover food to the needy.
To change the course of our culture, we do not each have to run out and start a social program or adopt an orphaned child. Rather, we need to do a little in each of our lives to revitalize what Edmund Burke called ``the little platoons,'' the family and those local and civic associations that facilitate good character.
That process begins at the kitchen tables of America and in your neighbor's front yard.
Jeb Bush and Brian Yablonski are, respectively, a Miami businessman and an attorney. They are writing a book about character.
- Knight-Ridder/Tribune
LENGTH: Medium: 75 linesby CNB