Jonathan Fleming is a Brooklyn man, who was recently exonerated of a murder he didn't commit after spending 25 years in prison. He was released with $93 from his prison account and has been living from cousin to cousin. Many would be angry, but not Jonathan. Jonathan was just happy to be out of prison and wanted to go to school. When he was released, he said, "Today's the first day of the rest of my life."
Enter Alex Sutaru, a Wall Street banker, who was impressed by both Jonathan's positive attitude and his total lack of resentment after spending half his life in prison for a crime he didn't commit. Alex is the kind of leader that I wrote about in "Acting the Courage of our Convictions" (4/26/14.) He could see how he could make a difference, and he did.
Alex went online and started a crowd-sourcing campaign to generate money to help Jonathan get a new start in life. More than 600 people from 14 countries gave a total of $35,000 to help Jonathan start his life over. Because of Alex's leadership, Jonathan is able to afford a place to live and food while he gets back on his feet again.*
Each of us can do something. We just need to listen when something pulls at our heart strings. Alex did, and he changed Jonathan's life. Our hearts always know.
*The source of materials from this abbreviated piece is from ABC Nightly News with Diane Sawyer. http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2014/04/america-strong-stranger-raises-35k-for-exonerated-prisoner/
No comments:
Post a Comment