Every year around the holidays you see stories that warm your heart and make you believe in the genuine kindness of your fellow human. This year, an anonymous STC member provided just such a story.
Shortly before Christmas, longtime member and volunteer Mike Starr sent an email to the listservs for STC community leaders and for his communities. In it, he stated that he'd suffered extremely bad health in 2013 that led to a steep decline in his consulting business, and as such he could no longer afford his STC membership. His email was a goodbye to friends and colleagues, with a promise to show up to chapter meetings as a nonmember when he could.
Less than six hours later, however, Mike wrote back to the same audience. An anonymous member, he said, had called the STC offices and volunteered to pay for Mike's 2014 membership renewal. “I am so grateful for the warmth and generosity,” Mike wrote. “There are tears of gratitude rolling down my cheeks. Thank you so much to my anonymous benefactor. You've truly blessed me with your kindness. I hope I can repay this in a similar manner one of these days.”
Multiple people responded to the email to second Mike's thanks to the anonymous benefactor. STC would like to add our thanks to the anonymous caller as well—and thanks to all our members for making STC the kind of community where something like this could happen.
This was truly heart-warming!