CARITAS

Charity.

“Generosity. Self-sacrifice. The willingness to give away wealth and material good. The energy to devote attention and personal service. The knowledge to promote wisdom and mutual prosperity. The social responsibility to create a strong, rich, and diverse community, especially in the interests of the impoverished. A nobility of thought or actions.”
1. Provision of help or relief to the poor; almsgiving.
2. Something given to help the needy; alms.
3. An institution, organization, or fund established to help the needy.
4. Benevolence or generosity toward others or toward humanity.
5. Indulgence or forebearance in judging others.
6. The theological virtue defined as love directed first toward God but also toward oneself and one’s neighbors as objects of God’s love.


Definitions 1 – 4 might very well be applied (loosely) to the Fruitshack. What is the Fruitshack you might ask? Why, it is the local hostel in town, also, the home of “my Handler” Michael.

I joke a lot about my pimp, but the truth is, besides the Mitchell’s of course, I owe more to Michael than any other Australian (not related to the Kigers). Him and his wife Debbie have hosted dozens of international backpackers, at a reasonable price, for years. But in addition… Michael does something special… he knows just about everyone in town, and he goes totally out of his way to make sure every guest of the Fruitshack has work. I am not even staying at the Fruitshack, and yet, as I have reported to all of you time and time again, he has made sure I have had work since I first got here. It might be because he plays favorites, I don’t know if it’s the Italian connection with him, or the fact that his wife and I are both Californians (debatably from the Central Coast, but I say Salinians are wanna bes where as Santa Maria is at the very HEART of the Central Coast).

The point is, I have been employed almost all the time that I have been here, basically, because of Michael and his excessively charitable heart towards backpackers. Another thing that has been going on since I’ve been here, is constant requests on Facebook for various charity events on the Central Coast. I would love to answer all these request by saying I’ll attend, but Colleen keeps forgetting that I am in Australia right now.

Yes, that is right, all these various request for Charity, came from the same person. I’ve only known Colleen for a little over a year, and really, we are just about a step above acquaintances, but that doesn’t mean I don’t thoroughly appreciate every conversation I have with her.

She has such an amazing heart. “Generosity. Charity. Self-sacrifice.” All are descriptive words that apply to Colleen. Her heart cries out for those who suffer, from the victims of drunk driving, to those who are deep in battle against the vicious beast that is cancer. She not only raises funds but also awareness for various causes.

I have not known Colleen for very long, nor do I know her as well as I would like to. There is another SLO county woman though that I do know pretty well, and have been fortunate enough to have her in my life for the last 5-6 years.

The Ninja Turtles had April O’Neil, we have Stacy. Stacy is constantly busy. Always up to something. She is involved with a women’s rugby team in SLO who has nicknamed her “mom”. Why? Well, let’s go back to the definition of Charity… “The energy to devote attention and personal service. The knowledge to promote wisdom and mutual prosperity… Benevolence or generosity toward others or toward humanity”

She takes care of ANYone within her sphere of influence. I suppose that is one reason we like having her around so much. She is willing to sacrifice any time off of work to help out a friend in need. In fact, the first time she ever met Val, was helping him move his stuff into a storage unit. Despite having a busier schedule than anyone else, she still is the main supplier of food and treats, like the last campout we all went on where she totally saved our asses from starvation.

As great as Stacy is, and as important a figure in my life she is, there is another equally important woman that I’ve known for nearly 12 years, and who, like Colleen, is also from the AG area.

As you can see from the above picture, Michelle posses “The Social Responsibility to create a strong rich and diverse community, especially in the interests of the impoverished.” This is a woman who truly has “The knowledge to promote wisdom and mutual prosperity”, now, that can be said of almost all teachers, but can one really say about all teachers that they have “the energy to devote attention and personal service”? Because she does.

She has this amazingly intelligent mind that could be used by NASA, she could be one of those people with one of those multimillion dollar jobs. But does she? No. That is not what is important to her. “Self-sacrifice. Willingness to give away wealth and material good”. What IS important to her, is others seeing the love of Christ in her daily life. “Virtue defined as love…”

This desire to show the love of Christ to others, has led her to all parts of the globe (on more mission trips than I have been on) as part of her “benevolence or generosity toward others or toward humanity… Provision of help or relief to the poor…” She is one of the best examples of what the Church should be. And what might that be?

Answer: “An institution, organization, or fund established to help the needy.”

The above picture was taken on one of her many Missionary trips, this specific one was to Uganda. Remember what I said about Uganda in my first Seven Deadly Sins blog? Twenty-three year long civil war! Still did not keep her from going though. Why? Simple, she cares more about others then herself. It takes an odd type of selflessness to become a math teacher for Jr. High/High schoolers when you know for a fact that you could be making more money ANYwhere else then where you are. I suppose that is part of that “nobility of thought or actions”.



If you suffer with Greed, and you want to know how to better yourself, find the Michaels, Colleens, Stacys, and Michelles in your life. Spend some time with them. Take notes. These are the people that Christ had in mind when he told us to love and care for each other. And if you are thinking to yourself…

“well, that’s great for those friends of yours Edward, it really is, but I don’t see what I can do to make a difference.”


I think that we as 1st worlders get so caught up in all the media that bombards us… We see Angelina adopting 20 million kids, or Oprah giving away houses, etc. and we get overwhelmed and think, “I can’t do any of those really amazing things, I’m just an average person” Well, go back and read the quotes from Andrew Carnegie and Seneca.

Let those sink in, and while you do, keep in mind this also:


“In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love”

And also…

“Love begins by taking care of the closest ones – the ones at home.”
-Mother Teresa