Mr Thomas Cannon's Gift to Us

WSET reported:

How Tom Cruise went into a Buena Vista Dairy Queen, and filled a jar with 50 one hundred dollar bills. He did this for a 12-year-old girl, Ashley Flint, to meet her medical expenses. It seems like he did this because he could, and because he cared. Some of us may think well that's pocket change for him. Perhaps we thought, if we had the money, we would do it too. Maybe so, maybe not. In any case, we should respect him for the act.

This story though, is not about Tom Cruise.

Reported by The Richmond Times Dispatch:

Its about another person who lived his life on the premise of helping others. With a thousand dollars at a time, he helped at least 156 people over 33 years. He died yesterday of colon cancer. And is sadly missed in the Richmond area. Mr. Cannon, who was a retired postal worker, it was reported never made over 20,ooo per year, he put the needs of others before his own.

There is a message in this for everyone, when Bill Lohmann of the Richmond Times Dispatch asked him. "So what would he like people to do in his honor and memory?" He replied, "Help somebody."


(Local spotlight on people)