The Butterfly Effect

When we do something to help others, we create good.

Although we may not see when or how this good has made a difference, we know it does. On Veterans Supportive Services Day (January 28) veterans at-risk of homelessness came to Food and Care to get a hot meal and learn about resources available in our community.  Even though I was there to tell veterans about services United Way offers, I think I learned more than any of the attendees.

I talked with a man who came to Utah searching for work.  He has a wife and kids back in Idaho.  He found a job delivering phone books that pays enough  to cover gas for his car, but not enough for housing.  So he's been sleeping in his car and asked if he could have a sleeping bag or something to help keep him warm at night.  A shower would be nice, too, he said.  He wasn't asking for a hand-out or pity.  You could tell he was a normal, honest guy just trying to get by. Of course not all those who are homeless are like this man, but there are many people in our community who are struggling. 

The butterfly effect is a theory that small changes at one end of a complex system can produce dramatic and unpredictable results in the long-run.  You never know how one small act of kindness can change the course of a life or of history.  That's what it means to LIVE UNITED, and why I really believe in the United Way slogan: If we all flap our wings together we can create a powerful, coordinated storm for good.