Living on a fixed income often means choosing between purchasing life-saving medication or putting food on the table. Seniors and others whose means of survival are drastically limited because of their inability to work usually fare the worst.
In fact, almost 8.6 million older Americans face the threat of hunger, according to the National Council on Aging. Individuals who are disabled and unable to secure gainful employment struggle, too.
It takes just one life event such as car trouble, a medical emergency or something happening to the house to plunge a person into the churning waters of bankruptcy. But one man from Burnley, England, has decided to give back to the Lancashire community in an amazing way.
Plumber James Anderson, 52, has spent years earning his keep by servicing people’s faulty plumbing. He realized firsthand that not everyone who needed his help could actually afford it.
Anderson began fixing broken pipes and other problems for seniors and disabled individuals absolutely free of charge.
His kindness and compassion shown toward the less fortunate has gone viral. The daughter of a senior whose life was slipping away, Christine Rowlands, snapped a picture of Anderson’s bill charging her 91-year-old mom who has acute leukemia absolutely nothing. Zero.
People could not believe what they were seeing. The receipt for the boiler repair was accompanied by a note that warmed hearts everywhere.
“No charge for this lady under any circumstances. We will be available 24 hours to help her and keep her as comfortable as possible.”
This father of five decided to quit working as a handyman and contractor and started a not-for-profit company called Depher that helps pay for people’s repairs, according to ITV. He raised the funds by using crowdfunding and donations. Anderson explained the need for his services on Depher’s GoFundMe page.
“The safety of our elderly and disabled relies on funding and kindness, without it we may not be able to get to everyone that needs this lifeline. From when this started in March 2017 we have helped over 1980 people and families, because of donations from the public and from ourselves at northern plumbing and heating ltd. With this i know that we could make a difference to at least some of the 16.5 million registered elderly and disabled people in the U.K. and hopefully one day with your help them all.”
Watching an elderly man be treated terribly by a fellow handyman inspired Anderson to take action.
He cannot believe the overwhelmingly positive response to his bill and his personal mission to help others.
“We didn’t expect it. It’s been everywhere.”
Helping others in such an amazingly generous way hasn’t been profitable for Anderson. But he steadily maintains a positive outlook and an equally positive attitude of gratitude.
“A lot of people close to me ask: why are you getting yourself in to debt? Why are you doing this? To me, debt is debt… I would rather owe some money to somebody and another person be alive and happy and safe. It’s an ethos that’s in my heart and it will always stay there.”
Anderson’s non-profit has been helping others for two years now, inspiring him to contemplate expanding country-wide to help others who need it.
“I’ve spoken to quite a few engineers around the country and they’re all for it… it’s just getting the funding. I don’t want any person who is elderly and disabled in this country, in this day and age, to die or suffer because of a cold home or a lack of funding to repair the boiler. It shouldn’t be happening – that number should be down to zero. Simple as that.”
People around the world have fallen in love with Anderson’s kind heart, so much so that he’s received an outpouring of support since his story started making waves and stirred up a surprising amount of donations, according to the Metro.
“People are talking about doing it in America, France and Australia, and they’re all going to contact me to get advice and guidance as to how to do it in their countries. Hopefully… we can bring all communities together for one common cause across the planet, so everybody who’s elderly and disabled, not just in the UK, can benefit from something like this in society.”
What a wonderful life mission to help others less fortunate!
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