"I'm retired and disabled so I can't do a lot, but I know computers pretty dang well." – Charles Scott.
He asked only one favor. If I was going to write something, don't make it about him. He wasn't the story, Charles Scott said.
I tried, Charles, I really did. I must have gone through five different versions of this column, and none of them worked without you driving the car.
Gas money, I call it. That's all you're asking for, just enough to cover your gas costs driving around the Valley hooking up disconnected seniors who are veterans to the outside world. Your time is free. No charge.
Ed Reynolds, from the veteran's group Wings Over Wendy's, tells me you showed up at one of their Monday morning meetings last fall with some of your buddies from Reel Cowboys, another group I admire for all the community service work they do.
The first time I met the Reel Cowboys was at a battered women's shelter. These big, brawny men who played the bad guys in old cowboy movies were down on their hands and knees giving horsey-back rides to little kids who thought all men were mean and hit mommy.
I saw a lot of them tear up that day holding those kids in their arms, and a lot more get mad, wishing they could meet some of those abusive dads in a dark alley sometime, just for a few minutes.
You weren't a veteran and you weren't an old movie cowboy, Charles, but both groups welcomed you because they saw something special in you. A lot of heart, determination and talent.
When the coronavirus hit and everything shut down, many senior veterans were left stranded in their homes. A phone call or email on an old computer they barely knew how to operate couldn't replace face-to-face contact.
It took Ed some time to teach his older veterans how to Zoom so they could keep in touch, but many of them didn't have the web cams and updated equipment to join in. That's where you came in, Charles.
"It wasn't just Wings they couldn't connect to, it was their children and grandchildren, as well," you said. "That's what frustrated me the most. I'd go out and visit them, making sure they were on the opposite side of the room from me."
You located the problem, Charles, and it was nothing money couldn't solve. But how do you get the extra cash when these vets were already living on a tight budget, just like you? You started a GoFundMe account before going to bed one night, and woke up the next morning to find nearly $500 already in it.
You took the money to buy web cams for half a dozen old vets, and upgrade their computers, which were old and slow. You spent four hours explaining everything they had to do, and made sure they got it right.
Then, you gave them the bill for your services. Ten bucks for three gallons of gas.
"Much of the success of our Zoom meetings is directly attributed to Charles," Ed said.
He knows it's tough for you to get around at 56 without a cane to lean on. He's seen the pain in your face. All those years of heavy lifting for a moving van company ruined your back and knees, and caused permanent damage. That's when you turned to computers, and began using your mind, not your brawn.
When I called you earlier this week, you were getting ready to shut down the GoFundMe account because you had met your goal. But why stop at only seniors who are veterans, I asked? Why not open it to all seniors on tight budgets who can't afford a computer whiz to help them out?
That's when you decided to keep it open a while longer until it reaches $1,000, enough to buy web cams for more than 20 seniors, first come, first serve. Where it goes from there, who knows?
You're a breath of fresh air, Charles, and I wish I could have granted you that favor, but if I did this column wouldn't have been written because you're the story.
There was just no other way to look at it. You're driving this car. For gas money.
The link to the GoFundMe account is gf.me/u/x9pst6.
To reach Charles, send an email to pcinfoman@gmail.com.
Dennis McCarthy's column runs on Sunday. He can be reached at dmccarthynews@gmail.com.
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