George's Inspiration: Kansas Homeless Shelter Head

May 19, 2010— -- My story of inspiration is one of service, charity and hope. It comes from just a couple hundred miles from the heart of America, the geographical center of the U.S., in Kansas.

There is a man there named Loring Henderson and he's inspired me for a very long time -- nearly three decades.

Henderson runs a homeless shelter in Lawrence, Kan., giving hope to those whose lives have whittled down to just a bag of clothes, a blanket and a pillow.

"He's allowed them to get an education, he's allowed them to get a job…these are all footprints he's going to leave in somebody's life," said former colleague Marla Mirabile, director of Redemptorist Center in Kansas City, Mo.

Those footprints also had an impact on my life. Henderson lives out an ancient lesson that says "whoever saves a life saves the world."

That is the lesson he taught me when we first met almost thirty years ago. I had just started as an intern in Washington, D.C. after college. Henderson and I met through work at similar think tanks and immediately hit it off.

Then one weekend morning Henderson introduced me to his life of volunteerism and took me to volunteer at a soup kitchen. For years he helped that soup kitchen, it was one of the many organizations he was devoted to. we volunteered there together.

Henderson also helped Dolores Wilson open a residential home for developmentally disabled adults called the Bethlehem House in Washington, D.C.

"We call him the Godfather of Bethlehem House and he was very instrumental in our beginnings," Wilson said.

But there's one act of kindness Wilson said she'll never forget. One of the residents, Michael, was wheelchair-bound but he yearned to go swimming.

"Every Saturday Loring came and took Michael to the pool at the YMCA," Dolores said. "I think Loring gave him a sense of importance…he just loved his time with Loring."

In the early 1990s Henderson was ready for his second act. Hi path of compassion and service took him back to his hometown of Lawrence. He put his big-policy work aside and began working at the Redemptorist Center in nearby Kansas City, running the food pantry and other services, helping many people in need.