Brian Bloom | Honoring the angels among us

Who are your angels?

They are the neighbors who watch your pets when you are away. They are the organizers of charitable food drives or community awareness when a wrong needs to be righted. They are the volunteers who look after the homebound and the homeless, who drive friends to the doctor’s office or the grocery store. They do things because things need doing, expecting nothing more than a thank you in return.

They are the angels in our communities, the dozens, nay hundreds, nay thousands of Sandhills residents who give of themselves for the benefit of others and we are seeking nominations to honor those who so often go without reward.

They may be missionaries, volunteer tutors, senior citizens or high school students and they live in the communities of Rockingham and Laurinburg, Wadesboro and Hamlet, Ellerbe, Dobbins Heights, Maxton — and so many places in between. We want to honor them all.

I get it … people of this region are modest. Really, I understand. It’s part of their heritage, their religion, their upbringing not to put themselves on a pedestal and that’s OK because we don’t want you there either.

But we do want your names, and your passions and your charity and your love.

The rules are simple. Know somebody who does good for goodness’s sake? Nominate them. That’s it, plain and simple.

If there was ever a time we need to be reminded about the best of humanity it’s an era where our political climate brings out the worst.

I have an idea: How about a Democrat nominating a Republican for our annual “Angel Among Us” honors? How about a Baptist supporting a Methodist or a Duke fan nominating a UNC fan?

How about people telling us who makes their world a better place? From recreation volunteers to those who give their expertise freely at the library, or the school or the church or the hospital?

I have a couple of favorite stories in my “Angels Among Us” past.

I remember Edith, an 80-plus-year-old shut-in living in Sterling, Colorado, who would clip every birth announcement, wedding or engagement, graduation, promotion or death notice in our newspaper and snail mail a corresponding card with handwritten congratulations or condolences all over the world.

I was blessed to be able to interview her in a simple four-room cottage where every wall was lined from floor to ceiling with cards and letters in return. It was her way of “reaching out.” Her way of participating in a world she could no longer physically be part of.

I was told when Edith passed away that more than 1,000 cards from every corner of the continent were sent in condolence. Edith was an angel who touched people’s souls with simple kindness.

And I remember Jeromy, a special needs young man of 24 who worked at our local Walmart, returning carts from the parking lot to the store.

Jeromy was the school football team’s permanent ball boy; standing along the sidelines Friday after Friday in his purple and gold jersey, attentive to make certain each ball was wiped clean and ready for the field of play.

He never had anything less than a smile upon his face and that joy was contagious from the Walmart asphalt to the artificial turf. Jeromy — like Edith — was an angel, too.

So here’s the rub. In today’s paper and every day’s paper up until Aug. 5, as well as on our website www.yourdailyjournal.com, we are asking you to tell who your angel is. Send us the information by email or snail mail; drop the form by our office and use whatever amount of paper necessary to make your nomination.

We will honor these individuals at the end of August with an “Angels Among Us” banquet and include them in our upcoming magazine.

I know you know deserving individuals. You may be one yourself. Please send us your nominations today.