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HAPPY NEW YEAR
We at the George & Dianne Koehler Humanitarian Charity want to wish you a wonderful new year. We would also like to thank you. You may think it’s strange that we are thanking you when you are usually the ones sending letters and cards of thanks for the money that we have sent you, The fact is that Dianne and I believe that the wealth we have would be worthless without all of you spending it as you do in order to relieve the suffering of your target groups. We are so very, very proud to be associated with all of you and to be assisting you in the work that you are doing , and we sincerely mean that. As I write this, there are over 100 of you in seven states that are receiving periodic checks from us to further your work and that number is growing.
It is likely that the upcoming year may be a very challenging one that may result in decreased revenue for you from many of your donors and other sources of funding. This will be coupled with an increase of those needing your services. Despite this, We challenge you to find new and innovative ways to improve your services and help the people that depend on you. One of the mottos of our Charity here at the G&D is “ charity by example” and as an example of doing better, Dianne and I have decided to double the amount of money that we will be sending out over and above last years figure. That means that many of you will be receiving more money depending on perceived need for funding with particular emphasis on some of you smaller charities lacking in the fundraising infrastructure of the larger charities.
126 years ago, an immigrant came to this country from Germany. He did not even speak the language, but he had a satchel of carpenter tools, And a dream of making a success by working hard, and by treating people fairly, honesty, and with integrity. About 30 years later, he owned his own corporation that took up an entire square block on four sides in a corner of New York City. One day, some thugs stole his weekly payroll and one of his employees who cared about him enough gave Chase through the streets of New York, risking her life trying to recover his payroll. (See below)
Today, a portion of the money that you have been receiving is from the investments that my grandfather made so very long ago in addition to the personal money Dianne and I have. Just a simple immigrant who made good and whose good is still benefiting you about 100 years later. It’s a great story, but apart from the message of following your dream, working hard and being honest there is another message in these dark times.
Today, in our country, people who may be immigrants, or even people who may be perceived as immigrants, or just regular citizens are being brutalized by federal police too ashamed to show their faces. Families are being torn apart, people are being thrown into concentration camps, others are being deported to foreign countries where they do not speak the language and have never been. On our border, we have had reports here at the Charity of children being severely cut up by the razor blade wire, and a pregnant lady who may have lost her baby. All of these things are reminiscent of Germany in the 1930s. - 1940s. At that time, there was a man named Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran minister who spoke out against the above injustices and gave his life in the Flossenbürg concentration camp for doing so. He has always been my idol for having the courage to speak out for injustices. Now, I believe that it is up to all of us to find the courage to speak out against the same injustices taking place. This is not the same America of my youth. Since 1886 immigrants escaping the tyranny of persecution have been welcomed to this country by the Statue of Liberty - including all of our grandparents who made significant contributions to this country. I urge you today to stand up and protest against these unjust practices in any way that you can. Eldridge Cleaver once said, “you are either part of the solution or part of the problem“ . It is up to each of us now to decide which side you want to be on. On the top of this page, it says, “humanitarian”. The definition of a humanitarian is, “ a person dedicated to promoting human welfare, alleviating suffering, and protecting human dignity.”
It is not for just Dianne and I , all people can be humanitarians - all it takes is the courage to stand up for what you know is right and for you to do something. Our America cannot wait - and neither should you.
The plaque at the base of the Lady in the harbor reads,
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!
These words were written by a woman named Emma Lazarus and I think, like the original Lazarus that the time has come for all of us to rise up from the dead of inaction and make an effort to ensure that all people, no matter who they are treated in a humane and fair way - remember, we can all be humanitarians if we want to be.
I urge you to keep following your dreams whatever they may be as a charity or as an individual, believe in what your heart is saying and give your dreams a chance to fly because you have the power to make your dreams come true as my grandfather once did and as those new immigrants to our country have.
And if it wasn’t so, Dianne, I, and my grandfather wouldn’t be here helping you.
We love you all Agape (look it up) not just in the spiritual way, but in a very human way also.
Flying down the road with Selena-watch Commander at EMS
I like the detective shows on TV where the detective always asks somebody where were you on such and such a date three months ago. Who can remember anything like that? But I can tell you where I was on January 1, 1976. That is the day Austin EMS started and I was there as a nurse /paramedic. There have obviously been lots of changes since those 50 1/2 years passed by, so I was thrilled when my friend Selena, who is watch Commander at EMS asked me if I wanted to ride out with her on a Saturday night to see what it is like these days in the business of saving lives.
I thought about writing in detail what I experienced but that was going to become too long of a narrative, and I really wanted to focus on some of the equipment and the people that are doing the work. In taking a tour of one of the ambulances I was really amazed at what I saw. Advanced heart monitors, sonograms, a box with about 50 injectable drugs for use in any situation, they are even carrying whole blood these days – it was all quite amazing. To be a medic these days you have to have an associate of science degree from a college, in fact, Selena has two college degrees, and an associate of science degree. The amount of college that a regular doctor has.
I really felt like the biggest thing for me was not so much the things I saw but the emotions that I felt on my adventure on that Saturday.
Amazement at all the astonishing equipment that could be brought to bear at the traffic accidents and in our homes to save lives.
Gratitude that there were people like Selena and her medics out there who are willing to bear the immensely hard job of being a medic today so that they could be there for us when we needed them.
Thankfulness that all the wonderful equipment has been made available for them so that they could do their jobs in such a perfect way.
Lastly, I feel a great sense of sadness for the people that I worked with and loved over 50 years ago that I somehow seemed to have lost contact with. I hope that they have had good lives and their dreams came true.
I guess realistically at the age of 76 and with the stage four Cancer and what not, the next time that I see the inside of an ambulance I’ll probably be the guy laying on the stretcher. My last emotion I guess, is hope that there will be somebody like Selena and her medics there to ease the journey, no matter which road I’ll be traveling.
I wanted to say thank you to you all at EMS because in our society today there are not enough people saying thanks, and there are not enough people showing appreciation. To all of you Follow your dream, and keep doing what you’re doing because I can’t think of a group of people that I really admire more. if there’s anything that we can do for you at the Charity, please let us know.
With deepest, gratitude and respect,
George
George & Dianne Koehler Humanitarian Charity
“ It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”
Here are a couple pictures taken at the “ Ice Ball Gala”– Big Brothers and Big Sisters. There were some great drinks, dancing, and a really great meal, as you can see. If you go out the front door of this hotel and make a left face, and walk three blocks, you will come to I 35. If you walk under the bridge and go another three blocks you will be at the Baptist soup kitchen. Across the street from there are some really ragged-looking, extremely thin emaciated people . Mary, Darren, and I brought some food to them a few weeks ago, and then we went to St. John’s Avenue and I 35 where the more desperate people congregate. A woman came up to us who was very painfully thin, and we gave her a peanut butter sandwich that some group of college students made. She became quite emotional and was profusely thanking us, and squeezing our hands. We gave her another two peanut butter sandwiches because that was all that we had left to give.
At the Ice ball, many of the people only took a forkful or two of the food of each of the three courses. The waiters came and collected up all the plates, and I suppose, went in the back and threw all the food in the trash. There were also a number of vacant seats with the food at them, and the waiters came to clear all that and I suppose threw it in the trash too.
I am not trying to denigrate the people at the Ice Ball because all of us rich people raised a great deal of money for the Big Brothers and Sisters, which is a great organization. I am merely trying to point out that there seems to be such a great contrast here in just six blocks between prosperity - and widespread suffering, hopelessness, despair, and hunger. I’m sure that there must be a lesson that we can learn from this, but I can’t figure out what it is. I am reminded of the French Revolution, in which there were one type of people on one side, and quite a different type of people on the other side. Charles Dickens in his novel, A Tale of Two Cities said, in the first sentence of the book, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times“. And I suppose, today, that it is the same way, just depending upon which side of the I 35 Bridge, you are on.
Thoughts from George
Into the Belly of the whale
We made a visit to Austin restoration mission about 10 days ago to have a discussion about the program that they have for the people they serve. They accept a variety of people off the streets into their program using a nine months long Christian based program. Every day starts with worship then breakfast then out to do the work that they have been assigned to.th”Later in the day they return for another worship session most days. Lots of Bible study involved lots of directing them toward Jesus and his forgiveness. They are very evangelistical.
They have multiple houses scattered across the city to house the people that they serve. They serve both men and women, have a nursery on site, have a cafeteria type operation and a chef. They serve people on parole, people directly off the streets that have issues with addiction, people who have been members of gangs, prostitutes and other others. Pretty much the same group Jesus was serving in his day.
They invited us to come on Sunday for their church service, which was truly amazing. So much music, so much hugging, so much focus ending with the pastor’s sermon about Jonah in a whale. The concept of being that Jonah was arrogant. Jonah was not gonna talk to God and follow what he had been told and spent three days in the whale before he called out for help and release.
We talked to quite a number of people after the service and the stories that they tell about their redemption, really hit home in the heart. We are very pleased to add them to the groups that we are supporting.
A ministry dedicated to reaching out to drug addicts, alcoholics and anyone that is lost and dying in sin throughout the City of Austin and its surrounding areas.
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