Returning the Favour

 I was streaming and discovered a Facebook show starring Mike Rowe. I’ll admit I really didn’t know who he was, but recognized his voice from commercials I’d seen on TV, advertising his then show called ‘Dirty Jobs, on the Rowe’d Again’.

His voice is very distinctive and when I googled the show I learned he had been an opera singer. Surprise, surprise.  

So this new show, well new to me as most of the segments I watched were prior to COVID, is a paying it forward kind of thing. Mike and his crew travel across America looking for people who are unselfishly dedicated to their community and surprise them with cash, and usually supplies to help them keep their efforts going. 

The recipients are your plain, everyday kind of people who want to make a difference, and they did. This is a case of donating time and energy, rather than a donation of money for the tax benefit and then gone.

One show had a chef who was out of work as his restaurant was closed during shutdown. He realized many families were having trouble making ends meet, and putting food on the table was a major concern. He built a box at the curb in front of his house and filled it wth groceries. It operated like one of those mini libraries you see throughout some neighbourhoods where you can take a book, leave a book.

His program took off to where he basically ran a free store out of his garage as others started to support his endeavours. At the end of the program Mike Rowe and his team presented him with a cargo van painted brightly with the name of the chef’s pantry, the back refurbished with shelves and filled with groceries. There are usually corporate sponsors who generously give cash or supplies to keep things going.

Another was about a once single Mom who supported other single moms by getting them furniture and other household items. She got storage space and furniture. 

There was a policeman who road a bicycle through some of the hardest hit neighbourhoods in a large city. He made himself known to families, gave out sports equipment, bikes and bike helmets to kids that could never have afforded such items. What’s interesting is the policeman is white and the kids all of colour.

The list goes on and on. A feel good program that shows a side of America we don’t often see or hear about. 

It’s very unfortunate that when I googled Mike Rowe and the show, I read an article that said the show had been cancelled, quite recently and it seemed with no warning.

It’s too bad, I was just beginning to believe there was a different, more caring America than the one that fills the news. Way to go Mike.