A nice donation

[Fencesitter]

Don has had many roles in life, few of them what most people would call admirable. He's been a burglar, a crack smoker, a state prisoner, an alcoholic and, for the past three years, a panhandler on Mission Street.

But now, thanks to riches from out of the blue, he has a new role to add to his name:

Art benefactor.

Don's long-estranged mother died recently, leaving him $187,000 -- and the first thing Don did when he got the money was cut a $10,000 check to the art gallery he has sat in front of for two years, panhandling and begging for free food. He got drunk to celebrate, then stumbled into the door of the Blue Room Gallery, walked straight up to owner Paul Mahder and handed him the check.

"They've been good to me for years at this gallery, and I wanted to pay them back," Don said, stuffing his hands awkwardly into his pockets. "I know I haven't led much of a life to be proud of, and I can't even remember half of it. But for once, I wanted to do something right."

"Ten thousand bucks only begins to say the kind of thanks I need to say to these guys," Don said. "They saved my life when I was at the absolute bottom."

article here

This is a slightly dated article from July 2004, but still quite nice, I think.

Fence