A Small Idea, Big Heart

By Chris McD

I'd like to tell you about Max. He's a guy who had an idea about his job as a social worker.

Max took over a section of Juvie Hall, for boys aged 14-17, convicted criminals all. I met those boys before Max did. I worked as a temp secretary for one day in the office there. Scary? Terrifying. Those boys were rough and tough and mean and there was no order at all - they stampeded at will. A year later, I heard that Max had taken over; I pitied him for having a job in hell.

The following Christmas, Max was on local TV offering food baskets. He said they didn't have much but were asking no questions and would be glad if people would come by to pick them up. The next day, the boys were on TV. Max had the boys giving away the food. One of the boys, looking kind of stunned, said, "Nobody ever thanked me before." Max said he wanted to give them what they had never had - a taste of why they might want to be good guys.

The Christmas Baskets became an institution; the press covered it every year and the boys began to have a good reputation. Today, under guidance from Max and an organization he founded, they are welcomed contributors to the community. Donations are plentiful and they have lots and lots of food baskets to give away.

It's been decades now since Max started this tradition. He's still inventing new ways to help others. He sees the same hardships that we all do - but he figures out ways for everybody to help everybody else.

Max turned a job in hell into positive community change. He brought imagination and creativity (but not, initially, money) to his job for the betterment of the lives of others. Is that the key to job satisfaction? If he can do it - so can we, maybe.