By John Allen
As the holiday season draws near, many of us are uncertain as to what the future holds. With the COVID crisis and nationwide political unrest dominating the news cycle, it’s all too easy to assume the world is falling apart. We’re entering a stressful time of year, and it’s only going to become more stressful … right?
One group of citizens begs to differ. They call themselves Matthews Helping Matthews, and they’re committed to fostering harmony, unity and joy across the greater Matthews area.
Matthews Helping Matthews was founded in early 2020 and is spearheaded by current Mayor John Higdon, former mayors Paul Bailey and Jim Taylor, and others representing small businesses, churches and foundations in the area.
These are men and women with beliefs – political, spiritual, cultural and otherwise – just like you or I. And just like you or I, those beliefs are occasionally perpendicular to one another. But one thing every member of the Matthews Helping Matthews team agrees on is their dedication to helping our community however they can.
Mumukshu Brahmbhatt, more commonly known around town as “MB,” was inspired by the willingness to set aside differences displayed by team members.
“I see a pure love for the Matthews community,” MB said of the group. “Crises offer opportunity to connect, and a by-product of COVID has been seeing our local leadership get onto the same page.”
Most notably, that “page” tells the story of a small group of people who raised more than $100,000 in charitable donations for the Matthews HELP Center, an organization that provides financial and food-based assistance to thousands of citizens in need each year.
MB said Matthews Helping Matthews chose to support the Matthews HELP Center because they saw it had structures in place that would allow them to help the most people.
Helping the most people we possibly can: it’s a goal many people share and one that many feel is unrealistic. But what if we took inspiration from MB and the team from Matthews Helping Matthews and started by focusing on our neighbors? If we all did that – focused on our commonalities rather than our differences, on our community rather than just ourselves – we just might reach that goal in time for the holidays.
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