“Wake up John Doe! You are the hope of the world!”

   Those words have inspired me for over 40 years and have had a profound effect on my life. And never before have those words rang so true. What is meant by those words is that, no matter what our circumstance, or our neighbor’s circumstance – if we all look out for each other, if we all work together, if we tear down those fences that separate us - there is nothing we can’t accomplish! 

   Your fate, our fate – your neighbor's fate - is in each other’s hands! In the hands of every John Doe out there! But we have to Wake Up! first; to get beyond ourselves, to be able to recognize it. We have to wake up and make the conscious effort to put the needs of others, over our own!

   It is my belief, that all people are inherently good. But life gets in the way. Life has a way of making us so focused on ourselves that we rarely have the time, nor take the time, to think of others. Opportunities for us to help others are all around us. Sometimes we don’t see them because they are clouded by our own personal lives, thoughts and struggles. But they are there nonetheless. Today, husbands and wives struggle with success, with surviving; many live paycheck to paycheck. Most of their day is focused on their work and professional lives. The remainder of the day is spent on family and their personal lives. And with just those elements, it is a real struggle to maintain a healthy balance. There is little time, if any, left for anything else.

   So then I ask you: What about your neighbor? 

   What have you done today to help your neighbor? You see, it is not in our thinking to think of others first. It is not a priority. WE come first! We are all consumed…with self. Our neighbor, his struggles and his pain, is not a priority or on the front burner of our conscious mind. Ah, but what if it was?

   What if we all made the effort, to put someone else’s need ahead of our own? What if we all made the effort to put the needs of others on the front burner of our conscious minds?

   What if we all made the effort to help out our neighbor, to help lighten his load?

   What if every American that loses his job, has hundreds, if not thousands, of people helping him find another one?

   What if every school in every city in the nation, adopts a John Doe chapter/philosophy – to where every student wandering the halls was on a mission to help someone in need; on a mission to perform an act of kindness to someone in need? Possibly another student, a teacher, a friend, a stranger. What if every student brought that philosophy home, outside the walls of school; each and every student, grades 1- 12 joined together in putting someone else’s needs over their own, joined together in helping others in their communities?

   What if every city in the nation formed its own John Doe chapter?

   What if every city in the nation had a John Doe list – a list much like Craig’s List - but this list allowed those in distress to post their need on the list and every John Doe out there made sure their needs were met? And those who wish to volunteer their time and services could readily do so!?

   What if every American who has lost a job knows there are hundreds, if not thousands ready to help them with paying the next heat bill or rent payment or putting food on the table?

   What if the 93% of homeowners in the nation who pay their mortgage on time, helped the 7% struggling with losing their home through foreclosure?

   What if every American knew his neighbor had his back, no matter what the circumstance?

   What if YOU were responsible for making all this...and much more, happen?

"Wake up John Doe! You are the hope of the world!"