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When he started his new job and commute, David Greenberg
found himself passing many homeless people along his walk
to work. Chatting with a guy named Barry, who had all
of his worldly possessions in a shopping cart, touched
Greenberg. “His entire life is in that cart,”
realized Greenberg, and his gentle, giving nature drove
him to share all that he could.
For five years, Greenberg has developed a friendship with
the homeless people he passes. He watches out for their
needs and health and listens to their life stories. During
his morning stroll, he hands out fruit, vegetables, and
granola bars. He also goes to thrift stores to buy them
warm winter jackets, socks, and books. “I try to
do a mitzvah every day,” he explains — a mitzvah,
in Jewish tradition, being an act of human kindness.
Despite the limited income he has to support his wife
and two children, Greenberg plans to continue his generosity,
as he says, “I call myself a common man philanthropist.”
—Dena Burke
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