We often hear things like “they don’t come like that anymore” when it comes to men nowadays when compared to the renowned warriors who went and came back from Vietnam, World War II, and in general, the moral standards they all had back then.
I wouldn’t disagree either. You see, back then we had higher standards of everything. The way we treat women, the way we raise and train up our children, church, and relation with Jesus was important, the dinner table was for eating and bonding – not collecting dust. We held jobs and were proud to be working. We weren’t worried about how many women we could end our nights with, because we were faithful to one, we didn’t care about how much our shoes cost.
Fast forward to today where we see young men not working, claiming other people’s kids to get more income tax, and treating women unimaginable. Church has long gone out the window for this generation, but not all hope is lost. It’s up to us to bring these youngsters back to a good sense of morality, back to Jesus, and back to earth!
Some might think that it is easier said than done, but there are many types of ways you could easily set an example. You could go out of your way to give a homeless person some ice-cold water on a hot summer day (without video recording it by the way!) You could show a young man how to do something related to a vehicle or machine of some sort instead of just doing it yourself, or like David Baldwin, a World War II vet, you could donate to a charity.
No matter how big or small the donation – every bit helps. However, I’m sure that Baldwin’s donation is going to make quite a difference very quickly, and it looks like he’s made his mark on this earth, perhaps inspiring someone out there.
Almost one year after his death at the fine age of 96, about six Tampa Bay charities received $63 million from his estate. That’s right, over $60 million!
Florida Man, World War II veteran dies at 96, leaves $63-million to Tampa Bay charities https://t.co/5VvZCDj0QC pic.twitter.com/tclNDlqbgh
— Florida Man (@FloridaMan__) April 7, 2022
Lacey Miller said she initially met Baldwin quite a while back when he gave an endowment of $5,000 to the Academy Prep Center of St. Petersburg. Miller said that Baldwin was amazingly modest, humble, and felt the need to provide for non-profit causes that his late spouse Virginia had confidence in, causes such as Academy Prep.
“We spent some time with our eighth-graders in a social studies class. He was able to share some details about his own life and his service in World War II, and the kids were as enamored with him as he was with the kids,” said Miller.
Last March, Baldwin passed away at 96 years of age, and it turns out the WWII vet had a huge secret.
“I had no idea it would be a gift of that size. It blew me away. I lost it,” said Miller.
Baldwin’s estate was as of late settled, and $63 million was dispersed among around six Tampa Bay charities and organizations including Metropolitan Ministries, Casa, and St. Pete Free Clinic, among others.
As for the Academy Prep, the donation was right about $9.5 million. Miller added that she didn’t know much about Baldwin’s past other than he was a veteran who cherished his wife. An obituary on the Western Reserve University site mentioned that Baldwin was a former student who had an exceptionally fruitful profession in gadgets and programming. This is one major act of kindness that will go down in the books, and hopefully spark inspiration in this current generation and for years to come.
This story syndicated with permission from My Faith News